verschwendevsverschwendetTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,933
“verschwende” frequency rank
#13,510
“verschwendet” frequency rank
54443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschwende verschwendet
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verschwenden Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschwenden

Where the eye mixes verschwende and verschwendet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verschwende runs 11 letters (CVCCCCCVCCV) against verschwendet's 12 (CVCCCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verschwende
12 ch
verschwendet

Look-alike desk: verschwende vs verschwendet

A purely visual mix-up. verschwende ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndə]) and verschwendet ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndət]) 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 extra letter(s) - “verschwende” sits inside “verschwendet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschwende is recorded at frequency rank #40,933, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndə]. verschwendet is at rank #13,510, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndət].

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 54443, this pair ranks #1,018,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verschwende vs verschwendet

Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwende": -. Private to "verschwendet": t.

"verschwende" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCV  ·  "verschwendet" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschwende ← evrschwende · vercshwende · verrschwende · verscchwende · verschewnde · verschhwende · verschwedne · verschwendde
  • verschwendet ← evrschwendet · vercshwendet · verrschwendet · verscchwendet · verschewndet · verschhwendet · verschwednet · verschwenddet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verschwende" and "verschwendet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verschwende" vs "verschwendet" - which ranks higher?
"verschwendet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,510 in our German list, against #40,933 for "verschwende". 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 "verschwende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwendet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,018,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschwende" and "verschwendet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwende vs verschwendete". 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 #1,018,678 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