Which to use
“verschwanden” is a verb and “verschwunden” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,779
- “verschwanden” frequency rank
- #3,624
- “verschwunden” frequency rank
- 19403
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschwanden | verschwunden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verschwinden | nicht mehr existent; verloren gegangen |
Where the eye mixes verschwanden and verschwunden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verschwanden and verschwunden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verschwanden with verschwunden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschwanden is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvandn̩] while verschwunden is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “verschwanden” becomes u in “verschwunden”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19403, 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]. verschwunden is at rank #3,624, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndn̩].
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 19403, this pair ranks #1,908,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschwanden vs verschwunden
Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwanden": a. Private to "verschwunden": u.
"verschwanden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC · "verschwunden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschwanden ← evrschwanden · vercshwanden · verrschwanden · verscchwanden · verschawnden · verschhwanden · verschwadnen · verschwandden
- verschwunden ← evrschwunden · vercshwunden · verrschwunden · verscchwunden · verschhwunden · verschuwnden · verschwnuden · verschwudnen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschwanden" for "verschwunden" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verschwanden" or "verschwunden" show up more?
What to do next
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 "verschwunden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,908,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschwanden" and "verschwunden" 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 #1,908,660 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.