verpflichtendenvsverpflichtetenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,660
“verpflichtenden” frequency rank
#26,667
“verpflichteten” frequency rank
72327
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verpflichtenden verpflichteten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verpflichtend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verpflichtet

Where the eye mixes verpflichtenden and verpflichteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. verpflichtenden runs 15 letters (CVCCCCVCCCVCCVC) against verpflichteten's 14 (CVCCCCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

15 ch
verpflichtenden
14 ch
verpflichteten

Visual trap between verpflichtenden and verpflichteten

A purely visual mix-up. verpflichtenden ([fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩dən]) and verpflichteten ([fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətn̩]) 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 72327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verpflichtenden is recorded at frequency rank #45,660, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩dən]. verpflichteten is at rank #26,667, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətn̩].

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 72327, this pair ranks #391,438 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verpflichtenden vs verpflichteten

Shared letters: cefhilnprtv. Private to "verpflichtenden": d. Private to "verpflichteten": -.

"verpflichtenden" · 15 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "verpflichteten" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verpflichtenden ← evrpflichtenden · veprflichtenden · verfplichtenden · verpfflichtenden · verpfilchtenden · verpflcihtenden · verpflicchtenden · verpflichetnden
  • verpflichteten ← evrpflichteten · veprflichteten · verfplichteten · verpfflichteten · verpfilchteten · verpflcihteten · verpflicchteten · verpflichetten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verpflichtenden" and "verpflichteten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩dən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verpflichtenden" or "verpflichteten" show up more?
"verpflichteten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,667 in our German list, against #45,660 for "verpflichtenden". 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 "verpflichtenden" and "verpflichteten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verpflichtenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verpflichteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #391,438 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verpflichtenden" and "verpflichteten" 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 #391,438 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