Which to use
“verschärft” is a verb and “verschärften” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,563
- “verschärft” frequency rank
- #35,522
- “verschärften” frequency rank
- 47085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschärft | verschärften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschärfen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verschärft |
Where the eye mixes verschärft and verschärften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschärft runs 10 letters (CVCCCCVCCC) against verschärften's 12 (CVCCCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verschärft vs verschärften
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschärft is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁft] while verschärften is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁftn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “verschärft” sits inside “verschärften”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47085, 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]. verschärften is at rank #35,522, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛʁftn̩].
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 47085, this pair ranks #1,296,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verschärft vs verschärften
Shared letters: cefhrstvä. Private to "verschärft": -. Private to "verschärften": n.
"verschärft" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCC · "verschärften" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verschärft" and "verschärften" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "verschärft" vs "verschärften" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verschärft" and "verschärften" 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 "verschärften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,296,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschärft" and "verschärften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschafften vs verschärften". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,296,691 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.