verspielenvsverspielteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#48,597
“verspielen” frequency rank
#40,936
“verspielte” frequency rank
89533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verspielen verspielte
Definition einen Einsatz bei einem Spiel verlieren Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verspielt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verspielen and verspielte apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
verspielen
10 ch
verspielte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verspielen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlən] while verspielte is [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːltə]. 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 89533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verspielen is recorded at frequency rank #48,597, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlən]. verspielte is at rank #40,936, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːltə].

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 89533, this pair ranks #56,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verspielen vs verspielte

Shared letters: eilprsv. Private to "verspielen": n. Private to "verspielte": t.

"verspielen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "verspielte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verspielenevrspielen · verpsielen · verrspielen · versipelen · verspeilen · verspieeln · verspielenn · verspiellen
  • verspielteevrspielte · verpsielte · verrspielte · versipelte · verspeilte · verspielet · verspiellte · verspieltte

Frequency comparison

verspielen#48,597
verspielte#40,936

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verspielen" and "verspielte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verspielen" is a verb and "verspielte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verspielen" or "verspielte"?
"verspielte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,936 in our German list, against #48,597 for "verspielen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verspielen vs verspielte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verspielen”; for an adjective, it's “verspielte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verspielen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list