verspeisenvsverweisenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,290
“verspeisen” frequency rank
#7,421
“verweisen” frequency rank
47711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verspeisen verweisen
Definition etwas genüsslich und mit Vergnügen aufessen auf etwas Anderes aufmerksam machen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verspeisen and verweisen apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
verspeisen
9 ch
verweisen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. verspeisen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃpaɪ̯zn̩]) and verweisen ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verspeisen is recorded at frequency rank #40,290, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃpaɪ̯zn̩]. verweisen is at rank #7,421, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 47711, this pair ranks #1,274,785 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verspeisen vs verweisen

Shared letters: einrsv. Private to "verspeisen": p. Private to "verweisen": w.

"verspeisen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "verweisen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verspeisenevrspeisen · verpseisen · verrspeisen · versepisen · verspeiesn · verspeisenn · verspeisne · verspeissen
  • verweisenevrweisen · verewisen · verrweisen · verweiesn · verweisenn · verweisne · verweissen · verwesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verspeisen" and "verweisen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃpaɪ̯zn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verspeisen" or "verweisen"?
"verweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,421 in our German list, against #40,290 for "verspeisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list