verschenkenvsversehenenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#11,149
“verschenken” frequency rank
#31,345
“versehenen” frequency rank
42494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschenken versehenen
Definition jemandem etwas zum Geschenk machen, jemandem etwas als Geschenk geben Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs versehen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verschenken and versehenen apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
verschenken
10 ch
versehenen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschenken is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛŋkn̩] while versehenen is [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːənən]. 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 42494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschenken is recorded at frequency rank #11,149, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃɛŋkn̩]. versehenen is at rank #31,345, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːənən].

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 42494, this pair ranks #1,447,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verschenken vs versehenen

Shared letters: ehnrsv. Private to "verschenken": ck. Private to "versehenen": -.

"verschenken" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCVC  ·  "versehenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschenkenevrschenken · vercshenken · verrschenken · verscchenken · verscehnken · verscheknen · verschenekn · verschenkenn
  • versehenenevrsehenen · vereshenen · verrsehenen · verseehnen · verseheenn · versehenenn · versehennen · versehhenen

Frequency comparison

verschenken#11,149
versehenen#31,345

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verschenken" and "versehenen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verschenken" is a verb and "versehenen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verschenken" or "versehenen"?
"verschenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,149 in our German list, against #31,345 for "versehenen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verschenken vs versehenen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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