Which to use
“verliebten” is an adjective and “verliefen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,343
- “verliebten” frequency rank
- #22,949
- “verliefen” frequency rank
- 55292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verliebten | verliefen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verliebt | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verlaufen |
Where the eye mixes verliebten and verliefen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verliebten runs 10 letters (CVCCVVCCVC) against verliefen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verliebten and verliefen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verliebten is [fɛɐ̯ˈliːptn̩] while verliefen is [fɛɐ̯ˈliːfn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verliebten is recorded at frequency rank #32,343, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːptn̩]. verliefen is at rank #22,949, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːfn̩].
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 55292, this pair ranks #985,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verliebten vs verliefen
Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verliebten": bt. Private to "verliefen": f.
"verliebten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC · "verliefen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verliebten ← evrliebten · velriebten · verilebten · verleibten · verlibeten · verliebbten · verliebetn · verliebtenn
- verliefen ← evrliefen · velriefen · verilefen · verleifen · verlieefn · verliefenn · verlieffen · verliefne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verliebten" and "verliefen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verliebten" or "verliefen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verliebten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verliefen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #985,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verliebten" and "verliefen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhielten vs verliebten". 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 #985,289 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.