Which to use
“verschreiben” and “verschweigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,914
- “verschreiben” frequency rank
- #16,314
- “verschweigen” frequency rank
- 45228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschreiben | verschweigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | beim Schreiben (aus Versehen) einen Fehler machen | bewusst nicht sagen oder aussprechen |
Where the eye mixes verschreiben and verschweigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschreiben and verschweigen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verschreiben and verschweigen
A purely visual mix-up. verschreiben ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and verschweigen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschreiben is recorded at frequency rank #28,914, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]. verschweigen is at rank #16,314, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡn̩].
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 45228, this pair ranks #1,360,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verschreiben vs verschweigen
Shared letters: cehinrsv. Private to "verschreiben": b. Private to "verschweigen": gw.
"verschreiben" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC · "verschweigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschreiben ← evrschreiben · vercshreiben · verrschreiben · verscchreiben · verscheriben · verschhreiben · verschrebien · verschreibben
- verschweigen ← evrschweigen · vercshweigen · verrschweigen · verscchweigen · verschewigen · verschhweigen · verschwegien · verschweiegn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschreiben" for "verschweigen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verschreiben" or "verschweigen"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verschweigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,360,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschreiben" and "verschweigen" 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 #1,360,209 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.