versenkenvsversinkenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,951
“versenken” frequency rank
#22,197
“versinken” frequency rank
45148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature versenken versinken
Definition in einem anderen Objekt bündig verschwinden lassen in eine weiche Materie eintauchen

Where the eye mixes versenken and versinken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. versenken and versinken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
versenken
9 ch
versinken

Visual trap between versenken and versinken

A purely visual mix-up. versenken ([fɛɐ̯ˈzɛŋkn̩]) and versinken ([fɛɐ̯ˈzɪŋkn̩]) 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 - e in “versenken” becomes i in “versinken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

versenken is recorded at frequency rank #22,951, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɛŋkn̩]. versinken is at rank #22,197, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɪŋkn̩].

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 45148, this pair ranks #1,362,854 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of versenken vs versinken

Shared letters: eknrsv. Private to "versenken": -. Private to "versinken": i.

"versenken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "versinken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versenken ← evrsenken · veresnken · verrsenken · verseknen · versenekn · versenkenn · versenkken · versenkne
  • versinken ← evrsinken · verisnken · verrsinken · versiknen · versinekn · versinkenn · versinkken · versinkne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "versenken" for "versinken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈzɛŋkn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈzɪŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "versenken" vs "versinken" - which ranks higher?
"versinken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,197 in our German list, against #22,951 for "versenken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "versenken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,362,854 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "versenken" and "versinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vermerken vs versenken". 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 #1,362,854 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