vermeidenvsVermerkenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vermeiden is a verb, Vermerken is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vermeiden” is a verb and “Vermerken” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,369
“vermeiden” frequency rank
#39,103
“Vermerken” frequency rank
41472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermeiden Vermerken
Definition etwas wenn möglich nicht tun; so handeln, dass etwas möglichst nicht passiert Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vermerk

Where the eye mixes vermeiden and Vermerken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vermeiden (CVCCVVCVC) and Vermerken (CVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
vermeiden
9 ch
Vermerken

Visual trap between vermeiden and Vermerken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vermeiden is [fɛɐ̯ˈmaɪ̯dn̩] while Vermerken is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛʁkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermeiden is recorded at frequency rank #2,369, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmaɪ̯dn̩]. Vermerken is at rank #39,103, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛʁkn̩].

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 41472, this pair ranks #1,478,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vermeiden vs Vermerken

Shared letters: emnrv. Private to "vermeiden": di. Private to "Vermerken": k.

"vermeiden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "Vermerken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermeidenevrmeiden · vemreiden · veremiden · vermedien · vermeidden · vermeidenn · vermeidne · vermeiedn
  • Vermerkenevrmerken · vemrerken · veremrken · vermekren · vermerekn · vermerkenn · vermerkken · vermerkne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vermeiden" and "Vermerken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vermeiden" is a verb and "Vermerken" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vermeiden" vs "Vermerken" - which ranks higher?
"vermeiden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,369 in our German list, against #39,103 for "Vermerken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermeiden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vermerken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,478,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermeiden" and "Vermerken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vererben vs Vermerken". 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 #1,478,338 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