verschiebenvsverschreibenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“verschieben” and “verschreiben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,485
“verschieben” frequency rank
#28,914
“verschreiben” frequency rank
35399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschieben verschreiben
Definition etwas über den Boden schiebend von einem an einen anderen Ort bewegen beim Schreiben (aus Versehen) einen Fehler machen

Where the eye mixes verschieben and verschreiben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschieben runs 11 letters (CVCCCCVVCVC) against verschreiben's 12 (CVCCCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verschieben
12 ch
verschreiben

Visual trap between verschieben and verschreiben

A purely visual mix-up. verschieben ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːbn̩]) and verschreiben ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschieben is recorded at frequency rank #6,485, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːbn̩]. verschreiben is at rank #28,914, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩].

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 35399, this pair ranks #1,640,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verschieben vs verschreiben

Shared letters: bcehinrsv. Private to "verschieben": -. Private to "verschreiben": -.

"verschieben" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC  ·  "verschreiben" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschieben ← evrschieben · vercshieben · verrschieben · verscchieben · verscheiben · verschhieben · verschibeen · verschiebben
  • verschreiben ← evrschreiben · vercshreiben · verrschreiben · verscchreiben · verscheriben · verschhreiben · verschrebien · verschreibben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verschieben" and "verschreiben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːbn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verschieben" vs "verschreiben" - which ranks higher?
"verschieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,485 in our German list, against #28,914 for "verschreiben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verschieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschreiben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,640,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschieben" and "verschreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschreiben vs vorschreiben". 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 #1,640,954 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list