VermerkenvsversenkenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#39,103
“Vermerken” frequency rank
#22,951
“versenken” frequency rank
62054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vermerken versenken
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vermerk in einem anderen Objekt bündig verschwinden lassen

Where the eye mixes Vermerken and versenken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Vermerken and versenken 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
versenken

Why the eye confuses Vermerken with versenken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vermerken is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛʁkn̩] while versenken is [fɛɐ̯ˈzɛŋkn̩]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62054, 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]. versenken is at rank #22,951, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɛŋkn̩].

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 62054, this pair ranks #726,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Vermerken vs versenken

Shared letters: eknrv. Private to "Vermerken": m. Private to "versenken": s.

"Vermerken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "versenken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vermerkenevrmerken · vemrerken · veremrken · vermekren · vermerekn · vermerkenn · vermerkken · vermerkne
  • versenkenevrsenken · veresnken · verrsenken · verseknen · versenekn · versenkenn · versenkken · versenkne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vermerken" for "versenken" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vermerken" is a noun and "versenken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Vermerken" or "versenken"?
"versenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,951 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vermerken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #726,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vermerken" and "versenken" 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 #726,862 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