verliehvsverliehenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,867
“verlieh” frequency rank
#5,662
“verliehen” frequency rank
22529
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlieh verliehen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verleihen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verleihen

Where the eye mixes verlieh and verliehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
verlieh
9 ch
verliehen

Look-alike desk: verlieh vs verliehen

A purely visual mix-up. verlieh ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “verlieh” sits inside “verliehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlieh is recorded at frequency rank #16,867, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliː]. 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 22529, this pair ranks #1,873,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlieh vs verliehen

Shared letters: ehilrv. Private to "verlieh": -. Private to "verliehen": n.

"verlieh" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "verliehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verliehevrlieh · velrieh · verileh · verliehh · verlihe · verllieh · verrlieh · vrelieh
  • verliehenevrliehen · velriehen · verilehen · verlieehn · verliehenn · verliehhen · verliehne · verliheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlieh" and "verliehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈliːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verlieh" or "verliehen"?
"verliehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,662 in our German list, against #16,867 for "verlieh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verlieh" 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 #1,873,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlieh" and "verliehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlieh vs verzieh". 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 #1,873,072 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