versteckevsversteckenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,401
“verstecke” frequency rank
#4,572
“verstecken” frequency rank
33973
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verstecke verstecken
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verstecken sich oder jemand anderen oder etwas an einen Ort bringen, der anderen nicht bekannt ist, wo man oder es nicht gesehen wird

Where the eye mixes verstecke and verstecken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verstecke runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against verstecken's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verstecke
10 ch
verstecken

Look-alike desk: verstecke vs verstecken

A purely visual mix-up. verstecke ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkə]) and verstecken ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “verstecke” sits inside “verstecken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verstecke is recorded at frequency rank #29,401, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkə]. verstecken is at rank #4,572, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkn̩].

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 33973, this pair ranks #1,673,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verstecke vs verstecken

Shared letters: cekrstv. Private to "verstecke": -. Private to "verstecken": n.

"verstecke" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "verstecken" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versteckeevrstecke · verrstecke · versetcke · versstecke · verstceke · versteccke · verstecek · versteckke
  • versteckenevrstecken · verrstecken · versetcken · versstecken · verstceken · versteccken · verstecekn · versteckenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verstecke" for "verstecken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verstecke" vs "verstecken" - which ranks higher?
"verstecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,572 in our German list, against #29,401 for "verstecke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "verstecke" and "verstecken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verstecke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verstecken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,673,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verstecke" and "verstecken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verstecke vs versteckter". 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 #1,673,897 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