verliehenvsverlierenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,662
“verliehen” frequency rank
#1,375
“verlieren” frequency rank
7037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verliehen verlieren
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verleihen etwas irgendwo hinlegen und es später nicht mehr wiederfinden

Where the eye mixes verliehen and verlieren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verliehen and verlieren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verliehen
9 ch
verlieren

Visual trap between verliehen and verlieren

A purely visual mix-up. verliehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːən]) and verlieren ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːʁən]) 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 - h in “verliehen” becomes r in “verlieren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verliehen is recorded at frequency rank #5,662, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːən]. verlieren is at rank #1,375, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːʁən].

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 7037, this pair ranks #1,989,601 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verliehen vs verlieren

Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verliehen": h. Private to "verlieren": -.

"verliehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verlieren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verliehenevrliehen · velriehen · verilehen · verlieehn · verliehenn · verliehhen · verliehne · verliheen
  • verlierenevrlieren · velrieren · verileren · verleiren · verlieern · verlierenn · verlierne · verlierren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verliehen" and "verlieren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈliːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verliehen" or "verlieren"?
"verlieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,375 in our German list, against #5,662 for "verliehen". 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 "verliehen" and "verlieren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verliehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlieren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,989,601 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verliehen" and "verlieren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verliehen 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 #1,989,601 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