Which to use
“verschonen” is a verb and “versehenen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,826
- “verschonen” frequency rank
- #31,345
- “versehenen” frequency rank
- 79171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschonen | versehenen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden/etwas von dem ausnehmen, was (im gleichen Zeitraum und aus gleichem Grund) einem anderen/anderem Schaden zufügt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs versehen |
Where the eye mixes verschonen and versehenen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses verschonen with versehenen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschonen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃoːnən] while versehenen is [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːənən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschonen is recorded at frequency rank #47,826, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃoːnən]. 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 79171, this pair ranks #222,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verschonen vs versehenen
Shared letters: ehnrsv. Private to "verschonen": co. Private to "versehenen": -.
"verschonen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVCVC · "versehenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschonen ← evrschonen · vercshonen · verrschonen · verscchonen · verschhonen · verschnoen · verschoenn · verschonenn
- versehenen ← evrsehenen · vereshenen · verrsehenen · verseehnen · verseheenn · versehenenn · versehennen · versehhenen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschonen" for "versehenen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verschonen" or "versehenen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschonen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "versehenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #222,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschonen" and "versehenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschonen vs verschönert". 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 #222,319 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.