vermeldenvsverwendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,284
“vermelden” frequency rank
#1,998
“verwenden” frequency rank
42282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermelden verwenden
Definition etwas (eine Nachricht) bekanntgeben etwas benutzen, zu einem bestimmten Zweck einsetzen

Where the eye mixes vermelden and verwenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vermelden and verwenden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
vermelden
9 ch
verwenden

Why the eye confuses vermelden with verwenden

A purely visual mix-up. vermelden ([fɛɐ̯ˈmɛldn̩]) and verwenden ([fɛɐ̯ˈvɛndn̩]) 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 42282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermelden is recorded at frequency rank #40,284, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛldn̩]. verwenden is at rank #1,998, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɛndn̩].

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 42282, this pair ranks #1,454,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vermelden vs verwenden

Shared letters: denrv. Private to "vermelden": lm. Private to "verwenden": w.

"vermelden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verwenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermelden ← evrmelden · vemrelden · veremlden · vermedlen · vermeldden · vermeldenn · vermeldne · vermeledn
  • verwenden ← evrwenden · verewnden · verrwenden · verwednen · verwendden · verwendenn · verwendne · verwenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vermelden" for "verwenden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈmɛldn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvɛndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vermelden" or "verwenden"?
"verwenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,998 in our German list, against #40,284 for "vermelden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermelden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verwenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,454,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermelden" and "verwenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermelden vs vermeldet". 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 #1,454,199 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