Which to use
“versenken” is a verb and “versunken” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,951
- “versenken” frequency rank
- #26,671
- “versunken” frequency rank
- 49622
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | versenken | versunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einem anderen Objekt bündig verschwinden lassen | irgendwo drin, zum Beispiel unter der Wasseroberfläche, verschwunden |
Where the eye mixes versenken and versunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. versenken and versunken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses versenken with versunken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: versenken is [fɛɐ̯ˈzɛŋkn̩] while versunken is [fɛɐ̯ˈzʊŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “versenken” becomes u in “versunken”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49622, 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]. versunken is at rank #26,671, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzʊŋkn̩].
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 49622, this pair ranks #1,204,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of versenken vs versunken
Shared letters: eknrsv. Private to "versenken": -. Private to "versunken": u.
"versenken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "versunken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "versenken" for "versunken" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "versenken" or "versunken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "versenken" and "versunken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "versenken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "versunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,204,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "versenken" and "versunken" 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 #1,204,501 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.