Which to use
“verschärft” is a verb and “verschärfte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,563
- “verschärft” frequency rank
- #24,562
- “verschärfte” frequency rank
- 36125
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschärft | verschärfte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschärfen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verschärft |
Where the eye mixes verschärft and verschärfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschärft runs 10 letters (CVCCCCVCCC) against verschärfte's 11 (CVCCCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verschärft and verschärfte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschärft is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁft] while verschärfte is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁftə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verschärft” sits inside “verschärfte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36125, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschärft is recorded at frequency rank #11,563, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁft]. 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 36125, this pair ranks #1,623,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschärft vs verschärfte
Shared letters: cefhrstvä. Private to "verschärft": -. Private to "verschärfte": -.
"verschärft" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCC · "verschärfte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschärft" for "verschärfte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verschärft" or "verschärfte"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "verschärft" and "verschärfte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschärft" 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 #1,623,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschärft" and "verschärfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschafften vs verschärfte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,623,311 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.