vermindernvsVerminderungTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#30,360
“vermindern” frequency rank
#36,093
“Verminderung” frequency rank
66453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermindern Verminderung
Definition kleiner/weniger/geringer machen Verkleinerung der Anzahl oder Qualität von Dingen; Abschwächung von Empfindungen oder Gefühlen

Where the eye mixes vermindern and Verminderung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. vermindern runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against Verminderung's 12 (CVCCVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
vermindern
12 ch
Verminderung

Visual trap between vermindern and Verminderung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vermindern is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪndɐn] while Verminderung is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪndəʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermindern is recorded at frequency rank #30,360, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪndɐn]. Verminderung is at rank #36,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪndəʁʊŋ].

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 66453, this pair ranks #572,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vermindern vs Verminderung

Shared letters: deimnrv. Private to "vermindern": -. Private to "Verminderung": gu.

"vermindern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "Verminderung" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermindern ← evrmindern · vemrindern · verimndern · vermidnern · verminddern · vermindenr · vermindernn · verminderrn
  • Verminderung ← evrminderung · vemrinderung · verimnderung · vermidnerung · vermindderung · vermindernug · verminderrung · verminderugn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vermindern" for "Verminderung" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vermindern" is a verb and "Verminderung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vermindern" vs "Verminderung" - which ranks higher?
"vermindern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,360 in our German list, against #36,093 for "Verminderung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermindern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Verminderung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #572,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermindern" and "Verminderung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermindern vs verwundern". 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 #572,735 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