verschafftvsverschaffteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,649
“verschafft” frequency rank
#21,465
“verschaffte” frequency rank
30114
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschafft verschaffte
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschaffen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verschafft

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verschafft and verschaffte apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
verschafft
11 ch
verschaffte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

verschafft and verschaffte form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verschafft” sits inside “verschaffte” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschafft is recorded at frequency rank #8,649, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃaft]. verschaffte is at rank #21,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃaftə].

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 30114, this pair ranks #1,754,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

verschafft#8,649
verschaffte#21,465

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verschafft" and "verschaffte" be used interchangeably?
No, "verschafft" and "verschaffte" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering verschafft vs verschaffte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verschafft”; for an adjective, it's “verschaffte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verschafft” 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