Which to use
“verschaffte” and “verschärfte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,465
- “verschaffte” frequency rank
- #24,562
- “verschärfte” frequency rank
- 46027
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschaffte | verschärfte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verschafft | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verschärft |
Where the eye mixes verschaffte and verschärfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between verschaffte and verschärfte
A purely visual mix-up. verschaffte ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃaftə]) and verschärfte ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁftə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschaffte is recorded at frequency rank #21,465, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃaftə]. verschärfte is at rank #24,562, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁftə].
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 46027, this pair ranks #1,332,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verschaffte vs verschärfte
Shared letters: cefhrstv. Private to "verschaffte": a. Private to "verschärfte": ä.
"verschaffte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCV · "verschärfte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschaffte ← evrschaffte · vercshaffte · verrschaffte · verscahffte · verscchaffte · verschaffet · verschafftte · verschafte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschaffte" for "verschärfte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verschaffte" or "verschärfte"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschaffte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verschärfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,332,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschaffte" and "verschärfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschafften vs verschärfte". 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 #1,332,986 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.