versteckenvsverstecktenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,572
“verstecken” frequency rank
#15,247
“versteckten” frequency rank
19819
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verstecken versteckten
Definition sich oder jemand anderen oder etwas an einen Ort bringen, der anderen nicht bekannt ist, wo man oder es nicht gesehen wird Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs versteckt

Where the eye mixes verstecken and versteckten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verstecken runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against versteckten's 11 (CVCCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
verstecken
11 ch
versteckten

Visual trap between verstecken and versteckten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verstecken is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkn̩] while versteckten is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛktn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verstecken is recorded at frequency rank #4,572, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛkn̩]. versteckten is at rank #15,247, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛktn̩].

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 19819, this pair ranks #1,904,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verstecken vs versteckten

Shared letters: ceknrstv. Private to "verstecken": -. Private to "versteckten": -.

"verstecken" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "versteckten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verstecken ← evrstecken · verrstecken · versetcken · versstecken · verstceken · versteccken · verstecekn · versteckenn
  • versteckten ← evrsteckten · verrsteckten · versetckten · verssteckten · verstcekten · verstecckten · verstecketn · versteckkten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verstecken" and "versteckten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verstecken" is a verb and "versteckten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "verstecken" or "versteckten" show up more?
"verstecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,572 in our German list, against #15,247 for "versteckten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verstecken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versteckten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,904,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verstecken" and "versteckten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "versteckten 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 #1,904,260 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