vermochtevsversuchteConfusable pair

Quick tell: vermochte is a verb, versuchte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vermochte” is a verb and “versuchte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,561
“vermochte” frequency rank
#2,224
“versuchte” frequency rank
26785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermochte versuchte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs vermögen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs versucht

Where the eye mixes vermochte and versuchte

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

9 ch
vermochte
9 ch
versuchte

Look-alike desk: vermochte vs versuchte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vermochte is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɔxtə] while versuchte is [fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxtə]. 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 26785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermochte is recorded at frequency rank #24,561, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɔxtə]. versuchte is at rank #2,224, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxtə].

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 26785, this pair ranks #1,812,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vermochte vs versuchte

Shared letters: cehrtv. Private to "vermochte": mo. Private to "versuchte": su.

"vermochte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "versuchte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermochteevrmochte · vemrochte · vermcohte · vermmochte · vermocchte · vermochet · vermochhte · vermochtte
  • versuchteevrsuchte · verrsuchte · verscuhte · verssuchte · versucchte · versuchet · versuchhte · versuchtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vermochte" for "versuchte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vermochte" is a verb and "versuchte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vermochte" vs "versuchte" - which ranks higher?
"versuchte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,224 in our German list, against #24,561 for "vermochte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermochte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versuchte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,812,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermochte" and "versuchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermacht vs vermochte". 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 #1,812,421 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