verpflichtendvsverpflichteteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#24,182
“verpflichtend” frequency rank
#20,772
“verpflichtete” frequency rank
44954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verpflichtend verpflichtete
Definition Partizip Präsens des Verbs verpflichten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verpflichtet

Where the eye mixes verpflichtend and verpflichtete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verpflichtend (CVCCCCVCCCVCC) and verpflichtete (CVCCCCVCCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

13 ch
verpflichtend
13 ch
verpflichtete

Visual trap between verpflichtend and verpflichtete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verpflichtend is [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩t] while verpflichtete is [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətə]. 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 44954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verpflichtend is recorded at frequency rank #24,182, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩t]. verpflichtete is at rank #20,772, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətə].

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 44954, this pair ranks #1,369,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verpflichtend vs verpflichtete

Shared letters: cefhilprtv. Private to "verpflichtend": dn. Private to "verpflichtete": -.

"verpflichtend" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "verpflichtete" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verpflichtend ← evrpflichtend · veprflichtend · verfplichtend · verpfflichtend · verpfilchtend · verpflcihtend · verpflicchtend · verpflichetnd
  • verpflichtete ← evrpflichtete · veprflichtete · verfplichtete · verpfflichtete · verpfilchtete · verpflcihtete · verpflicchtete · verpflichette

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verpflichtend" and "verpflichtete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verpflichtend" is a verb and "verpflichtete" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verpflichtend" vs "verpflichtete" - which ranks higher?
"verpflichtete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,772 in our German list, against #24,182 for "verpflichtend". 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 "verpflichtend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verpflichtete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,369,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verpflichtend" and "verpflichtete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verpflichtend vs verpflichtenden". 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 #1,369,215 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