versorgenvsverworfenConfusable pair

Quick tell: versorgen is a verb, verworfen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“versorgen” is a verb and “verworfen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,252
“versorgen” frequency rank
#15,252
“verworfen” frequency rank
21504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature versorgen verworfen
Definition jemandem oder einer Sache Nötiges zuführen verkommen seiend

Where the eye mixes versorgen and verworfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. versorgen and verworfen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
versorgen
9 ch
verworfen

Visual trap between versorgen and verworfen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: versorgen is [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁɡn̩] while verworfen is [fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁfn̩]. 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 21504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

versorgen is recorded at frequency rank #6,252, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁɡn̩]. verworfen is at rank #15,252, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁfn̩].

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 21504, this pair ranks #1,885,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of versorgen vs verworfen

Shared letters: enorv. Private to "versorgen": gs. Private to "verworfen": fw.

"versorgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verworfen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versorgen ← evrsorgen · verosrgen · verrsorgen · versogren · versoregn · versorgenn · versorggen · versorgne
  • verworfen ← evrworfen · verowrfen · verrworfen · verwofren · verworefn · verworfenn · verworffen · verworfne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "versorgen" for "verworfen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "versorgen" is a verb and "verworfen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "versorgen" or "verworfen" show up more?
"versorgen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,252 in our German list, against #15,252 for "verworfen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "versorgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verworfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,885,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "versorgen" and "verworfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verworfen vs verworren". 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 #1,885,506 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