Which to use
“verschwendet” is a verb and “verschwunden” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,510
- “verschwendet” frequency rank
- #3,624
- “verschwunden” frequency rank
- 17134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschwendet | verschwunden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschwenden | nicht mehr existent; verloren gegangen |
Where the eye mixes verschwendet and verschwunden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschwendet and verschwunden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verschwendet vs verschwunden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschwendet is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndət] while verschwunden is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschwendet is recorded at frequency rank #13,510, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndət]. 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 17134, this pair ranks #1,930,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschwendet vs verschwunden
Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwendet": t. Private to "verschwunden": u.
"verschwendet" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC · "verschwunden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschwendet ← evrschwendet · vercshwendet · verrschwendet · verscchwendet · verschewndet · verschhwendet · verschwednet · verschwenddet
- verschwunden ← evrschwunden · vercshwunden · verrschwunden · verscchwunden · verschhwunden · verschuwnden · verschwnuden · verschwudnen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verschwendet" and "verschwunden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verschwendet" or "verschwunden" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschwendet" 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 #1,930,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschwendet" and "verschwunden" 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 #1,930,073 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.