Which to use
“verschrieben” is a verb and “verschwiegen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,776
- “verschrieben” frequency rank
- #13,057
- “verschwiegen” frequency rank
- 24833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschrieben | verschwiegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verschreiben | fähig zu schweigen, ein Geheimnis für sich zu behalten |
Where the eye mixes verschrieben and verschwiegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschrieben and verschwiegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verschrieben and verschwiegen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschrieben is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁiːbn̩] while verschwiegen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃviːɡn̩]. 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 24833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschrieben is recorded at frequency rank #11,776, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʁiːbn̩]. verschwiegen is at rank #13,057, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃviːɡn̩].
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 24833, this pair ranks #1,842,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschrieben vs verschwiegen
Shared letters: cehinrsv. Private to "verschrieben": b. Private to "verschwiegen": gw.
"verschrieben" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC · "verschwiegen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschrieben ← evrschrieben · vercshrieben · verrschrieben · verscchrieben · verschhrieben · verschireben · verschribeen · verschriebben
- verschwiegen ← evrschwiegen · vercshwiegen · verrschwiegen · verscchwiegen · verschhwiegen · verschiwegen · verschwieegn · verschwiegenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschrieben" for "verschwiegen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verschrieben" or "verschwiegen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschrieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verschwiegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,842,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschrieben" and "verschwiegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwiegen vs verschwimmen". 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 #1,842,028 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.