verliehvsverziehtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,867
“verlieh” frequency rank
#36,100
“verzieht” frequency rank
52967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlieh verzieht
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verleihen 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verzeihen

Where the eye mixes verlieh and verzieht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verlieh runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against verzieht's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
verlieh
8 ch
verzieht

Visual trap between verlieh and verzieht

A purely visual mix-up. verlieh ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) and verzieht ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːt]) 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 52967, 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]. verzieht is at rank #36,100, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːt].

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 52967, this pair ranks #1,076,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verlieh vs verzieht

Shared letters: ehirv. Private to "verlieh": l. Private to "verzieht": tz.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verliehevrlieh · velrieh · verileh · verliehh · verlihe · verllieh · verrlieh · vrelieh
  • verziehtevrzieht · verizeht · verrzieht · verziehht · verziehtt · verzieth · verzihet · verzzieht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlieh" and "verzieht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verlieh" or "verzieht" show up more?
"verlieh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,867 in our German list, against #36,100 for "verzieht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verlieh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verzieht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,076,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlieh" and "verzieht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verzieh vs verzieht". 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 #1,076,244 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