Which to use
“vermissen” is a verb and “vermisste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,781
- “vermissen” frequency rank
- #14,976
- “vermisste” frequency rank
- 20757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vermissen | vermisste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | feststellen, wahrnehmen, dass jemand oder etwas fehlt | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs vermisst |
Where the eye mixes vermissen and vermisste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. vermissen (CVCCVCCVC) and vermisste (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses vermissen with vermisste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vermissen is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩] while vermisste is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪstə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vermissen is recorded at frequency rank #5,781, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]. vermisste is at rank #14,976, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪstə].
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 20757, this pair ranks #1,894,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vermissen vs vermisste
Shared letters: eimrsv. Private to "vermissen": n. Private to "vermisste": t.
"vermissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "vermisste" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vermissen" for "vermisste" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vermissen" or "vermisste"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vermissen" and "vermisste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vermissen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vermisste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,894,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vermissen" and "vermisste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermiesen vs vermissen". 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 #1,894,098 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.