verschwundenvsverschwundeneTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,624
“verschwunden” frequency rank
#33,887
“verschwundene” frequency rank
37511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschwunden verschwundene
Definition nicht mehr existent; verloren gegangen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verschwunden

Where the eye mixes verschwunden and verschwundene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. verschwunden runs 12 letters (CVCCCCCVCCVC) against verschwundene's 13 (CVCCCCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
verschwunden
13 ch
verschwundene

Why the eye confuses verschwunden with verschwundene

A purely visual mix-up. verschwunden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndn̩]) and verschwundene ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndənə]) 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) - “verschwunden” sits inside “verschwundene”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschwunden is recorded at frequency rank #3,624, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndn̩]. verschwundene is at rank #33,887, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndənə].

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 37511, this pair ranks #1,588,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verschwunden vs verschwundene

Shared letters: cdehnrsuvw. Private to "verschwunden": -. Private to "verschwundene": -.

"verschwunden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC  ·  "verschwundene" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschwunden ← evrschwunden · vercshwunden · verrschwunden · verscchwunden · verschhwunden · verschuwnden · verschwnuden · verschwudnen
  • verschwundene ← evrschwundene · vercshwundene · verrschwundene · verscchwundene · verschhwundene · verschuwndene · verschwnudene · verschwudnene

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verschwunden" for "verschwundene" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvʊndənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verschwunden" or "verschwundene" show up more?
"verschwunden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,624 in our German list, against #33,887 for "verschwundene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwunden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwundene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,588,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschwunden" and "verschwundene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwendete vs verschwundene". 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 #1,588,287 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