verschwandvsverschwindeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,127
“verschwand” frequency rank
#35,521
“verschwinde” frequency rank
42648
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschwand verschwinde
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verschwinden 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verschwinden

Where the eye mixes verschwand and verschwinde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
verschwand
11 ch
verschwinde

Why the eye confuses verschwand with verschwinde

A purely visual mix-up. verschwand ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvant]) and verschwinde ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndə]) 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 42648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschwand is recorded at frequency rank #7,127, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvant]. verschwinde is at rank #35,521, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndə].

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 42648, this pair ranks #1,442,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verschwand vs verschwinde

Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwand": a. Private to "verschwinde": i.

"verschwand" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCC  ·  "verschwinde" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschwandevrschwand · vercshwand · verrschwand · verscchwand · verschawnd · verschhwand · verschwadn · verschwandd
  • verschwindeevrschwinde · vercshwinde · verrschwinde · verscchwinde · verschhwinde · verschiwnde · verschwidne · verschwindde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verschwand" for "verschwinde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvant] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verschwand" or "verschwinde"?
"verschwand" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,127 in our German list, against #35,521 for "verschwinde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "verschwand" and "verschwinde" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwand" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwinde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,442,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschwand" and "verschwinde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwende vs verschwinde". 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 #1,442,890 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