verliebenvsverlinkenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“verlieben” and “verlinken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,993
“verlieben” frequency rank
#18,743
“verlinken” frequency rank
30736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlieben verlinken
Definition anfangen, für jemanden Liebe zu empfinden; etwas reizend, nett, schön finden einen Hyperlink (Verweis) setzen, über Hyperlinks verknüpfen

Where the eye mixes verlieben and verlinken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verlieben (CVCCVVCVC) and verlinken (CVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
verlieben
9 ch
verlinken

Visual trap between verlieben and verlinken

A purely visual mix-up. verlieben ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːbn̩]) and verlinken ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɪŋkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlieben is recorded at frequency rank #11,993, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːbn̩]. verlinken is at rank #18,743, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɪŋkn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30736, this pair ranks #1,742,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlieben vs verlinken

Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verlieben": b. Private to "verlinken": k.

"verlieben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verlinken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verliebenevrlieben · velrieben · verileben · verleiben · verlibeen · verliebben · verliebenn · verliebne
  • verlinkenevrlinken · velrinken · verilnken · verliknen · verlinekn · verlinkenn · verlinkken · verlinkne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlieben" and "verlinken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːbn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlɪŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verlieben" vs "verlinken" - which ranks higher?
"verlieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,993 in our German list, against #18,743 for "verlinken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verlieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,742,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlieben" and "verlinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlinken vs Verlinkung". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,742,066 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list