vermagvsverzogTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,617
“vermag” frequency rank
#39,700
“verzog” frequency rank
52317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermag verzog
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vermögen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verziehen

Where the eye mixes vermag and verzog

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vermag and verzog follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
vermag
6 ch
verzog

Visual trap between vermag and verzog

A purely visual mix-up. vermag ([fɛɐ̯ˈmaːk]) and verzog ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡soːk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermag is recorded at frequency rank #12,617, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmaːk]. verzog is at rank #39,700, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡soːk].

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 52317, this pair ranks #1,101,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vermag vs verzog

Shared letters: egrv. Private to "vermag": am. Private to "verzog": oz.

"vermag" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "verzog" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermag ← evrmag · vemrag · veramg · vermagg · vermga · vermmag · verrmag · vremag
  • verzog ← evrzog · verozg · verrzog · verzgo · verzogg · verzzog · vezrog · vrezog

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vermag" and "verzog" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈmaːk] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡soːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vermag" or "verzog"?
"vermag" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,617 in our German list, against #39,700 for "verzog". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verzog" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,101,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermag" and "verzog" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vero vs verzog". 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 #1,101,489 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