vermutevsverrateTell them apart

Which to use

“vermute” and “verrate” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,740
“vermute” frequency rank
#23,768
“verrate” frequency rank
30508
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermute verrate
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vermuten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verraten

Where the eye mixes vermute and verrate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vermute and verrate follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
vermute
7 ch
verrate

Why the eye confuses vermute with verrate

A purely visual mix-up. vermute ([fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtə]) and verrate ([fɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermute is recorded at frequency rank #6,740, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtə]. verrate is at rank #23,768, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtə].

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 30508, this pair ranks #1,746,465 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vermute vs verrate

Shared letters: ertv. Private to "vermute": mu. Private to "verrate": a.

"vermute" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "verrate" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermuteevrmute · vemrute · vermmute · vermtue · vermuet · verrmute · verumte · vremute
  • verrateevrrate · verarte · verate · verraet · verratte · verrtae · vrerate · vverrate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vermute" for "verrate" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vermute" or "verrate"?
"vermute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,740 in our German list, against #23,768 for "verrate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verrate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,746,465 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermute" and "verrate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verrate vs Verrats". 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 #1,746,465 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