verliehvsverliertTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,867
“verlieh” frequency rank
#2,223
“verliert” frequency rank
19090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlieh verliert
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verleihen 3. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs verlieren

Where the eye mixes verlieh and verliert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
verlieh
8 ch
verliert

Why the eye confuses verlieh with verliert

A purely visual mix-up. verlieh ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) and verliert ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːɐ̯t]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19090, 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]. verliert is at rank #2,223, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːɐ̯t].

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 19090, this pair ranks #1,911,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlieh vs verliert

Shared letters: eilrv. Private to "verlieh": h. Private to "verliert": t.

"verlieh" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "verliert" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verliehevrlieh · velrieh · verileh · verliehh · verlihe · verllieh · verrlieh · vrelieh
  • verliertevrliert · velriert · verilert · verleirt · verlierrt · verliertt · verlietr · verliret

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verlieh" and "verliert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈliːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verlieh" or "verliert"?
"verliert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,223 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "verlieh" and "verliert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verlieh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verliert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,911,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlieh" and "verliert" 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 #1,911,937 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