verschaffenvsverschafftenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,782
“verschaffen” frequency rank
#47,822
“verschafften” frequency rank
53604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschaffen verschafften
Definition sich etwas besorgen; dafür sorgen, dass jemand etwas bekommt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verschafft

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verschaffen and verschafften apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
verschaffen
12 ch
verschafften

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschaffen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃafn̩] while verschafften is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃaftn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschaffen is recorded at frequency rank #5,782, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃafn̩]. verschafften is at rank #47,822, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃaftn̩].

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 53604, this pair ranks #1,051,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verschaffen vs verschafften

Shared letters: acefhnrsv. Private to "verschaffen": -. Private to "verschafften": t.

"verschaffen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCVC  ·  "verschafften" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschaffenevrschaffen · vercshaffen · verrschaffen · verscahffen · verscchaffen · verschafefn · verschafen · verschaffenn
  • verschafftenevrschafften · vercshafften · verrschafften · verscahfften · verscchafften · verschaffetn · verschafftenn · verschafftne

Frequency comparison

verschaffen#5,782
verschafften#47,822

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verschaffen" and "verschafften" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verschaffen" is a verb and "verschafften" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verschaffen" or "verschafften"?
"verschaffen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,782 in our German list, against #47,822 for "verschafften". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verschaffen vs verschafften

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verschaffen”; for an adjective, it's “verschafften”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verschaffen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list