VermerkenvsvermessenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Vermerken is a noun, vermessen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#39,103
“Vermerken” frequency rank
#19,068
“vermessen” frequency rank
58171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vermerken vermessen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vermerk übermäßig ehrgeizig und deshalb riskant

Where the eye mixes Vermerken and vermessen

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

9 ch
Vermerken
9 ch
vermessen

Why the eye confuses Vermerken with vermessen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vermerken is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛʁkn̩] while vermessen is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vermerken is recorded at frequency rank #39,103, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛʁkn̩]. vermessen is at rank #19,068, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩].

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 58171, this pair ranks #872,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Vermerken vs vermessen

Shared letters: emnrv. Private to "Vermerken": k. Private to "vermessen": s.

"Vermerken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vermessen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vermerkenevrmerken · vemrerken · veremrken · vermekren · vermerekn · vermerkenn · vermerkken · vermerkne
  • vermessenevrmessen · vemressen · veremssen · vermesen · vermesesn · vermessenn · vermessne · vermeßen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Vermerken" and "vermessen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vermerken" is a noun and "vermessen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Vermerken" vs "vermessen" - which ranks higher?
"vermessen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,068 in our German list, against #39,103 for "Vermerken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vermerken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermessen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #872,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vermerken" and "vermessen" 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 #872,996 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