Which to use
“verliefen” and “verliehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,949
- “verliefen” frequency rank
- #5,662
- “verliehen” frequency rank
- 28611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verliefen | verliehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verlaufen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verleihen |
Where the eye mixes verliefen and verliehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verliefen and verliehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verliefen and verliehen
A purely visual mix-up. verliefen ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːfn̩]) and verliehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - f in “verliefen” becomes h in “verliehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verliefen is recorded at frequency rank #22,949, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːfn̩]. verliehen is at rank #5,662, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːən].
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 28611, this pair ranks #1,781,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verliefen vs verliehen
Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verliefen": f. Private to "verliehen": h.
"verliefen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verliehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verliefen" and "verliehen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verliefen" or "verliehen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verliefen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verliehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,781,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verliefen" and "verliehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verliefen vs vermiesen". 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 #1,781,685 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.