verschwandenvsverschwindenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,779
“verschwanden” frequency rank
#2,863
“verschwinden” frequency rank
18642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschwanden verschwinden
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verschwinden aufhören zu existieren, sich in Nichts auflösen

Where the eye mixes verschwanden and verschwinden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verschwanden and verschwinden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
verschwanden
12 ch
verschwinden

Visual trap between verschwanden and verschwinden

A purely visual mix-up. verschwanden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvandn̩]) and verschwinden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndn̩]) 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 a single letter - a in “verschwanden” becomes i in “verschwinden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschwanden is recorded at frequency rank #15,779, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvandn̩]. verschwinden is at rank #2,863, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndn̩].

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 18642, this pair ranks #1,916,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verschwanden vs verschwinden

Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwanden": a. Private to "verschwinden": i.

"verschwanden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC  ·  "verschwinden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschwanden ← evrschwanden · vercshwanden · verrschwanden · verscchwanden · verschawnden · verschhwanden · verschwadnen · verschwandden
  • verschwinden ← evrschwinden · vercshwinden · verrschwinden · verscchwinden · verschhwinden · verschiwnden · verschwidnen · verschwindden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verschwanden" for "verschwinden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvandn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verschwanden" or "verschwinden"?
"verschwinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,863 in our German list, against #15,779 for "verschwanden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwanden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwinden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,916,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschwanden" and "verschwinden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwanden vs verschwende". 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 #1,916,316 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