verpflichtendevsverpflichteteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,441
“verpflichtende” frequency rank
#20,772
“verpflichtete” frequency rank
55213
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verpflichtende verpflichtete
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verpflichtend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verpflichtet

Where the eye mixes verpflichtende and verpflichtete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. verpflichtende runs 14 letters (CVCCCCVCCCVCCV) against verpflichtete's 13 (CVCCCCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch
verpflichtende
13 ch
verpflichtete

Visual trap between verpflichtende and verpflichtete

A purely visual mix-up. verpflichtende ([fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩də]) and verpflichtete ([fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verpflichtende is recorded at frequency rank #34,441, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩də]. 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 55213, this pair ranks #988,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verpflichtende vs verpflichtete

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

"verpflichtende" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVCCV  ·  "verpflichtete" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verpflichtende ← evrpflichtende · veprflichtende · verfplichtende · verpfflichtende · verpfilchtende · verpflcihtende · verpflicchtende · verpflichetnde
  • verpflichtete ← evrpflichtete · veprflichtete · verfplichtete · verpfflichtete · verpfilchtete · verpflcihtete · verpflicchtete · verpflichette

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verpflichtende" and "verpflichtete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩də] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verpflichtende" or "verpflichtete"?
"verpflichtete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,772 in our German list, against #34,441 for "verpflichtende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "verpflichtende" and "verpflichtete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verpflichtende" 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 #988,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verpflichtende" and "verpflichtete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verpflichtende 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 #988,320 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