Which to use
“verschwenden” and “verschwendet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,820
- “verschwenden” frequency rank
- #13,510
- “verschwendet” frequency rank
- 26330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschwenden | verschwendet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unnötig viele Mittel, Ressourcen einsetzen; etwas erfolglos, sinnlos, planlos, unrationell aufwenden; vergeuden | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschwenden |
Where the eye mixes verschwenden and verschwendet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verschwenden and verschwendet 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 verschwenden with verschwendet
A purely visual mix-up. verschwenden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “verschwenden” becomes t in “verschwendet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschwenden is recorded at frequency rank #12,820, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndn̩]. 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 26330, this pair ranks #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschwenden vs verschwendet
Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwenden": -. Private to "verschwendet": t.
"verschwenden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC · "verschwendet" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschwenden ← evrschwenden · vercshwenden · verrschwenden · verscchwenden · verschewnden · verschhwenden · verschwednen · verschwendden
- verschwendet ← evrschwendet · vercshwendet · verrschwendet · verscchwendet · verschewndet · verschhwendet · verschwednet · verschwenddet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschwenden" for "verschwendet" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verschwenden" or "verschwendet" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschwenden" 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 #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschwenden" and "verschwendet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwendet 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 #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.