versuchevsversuchterWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,144
“versuche” frequency rank
#22,200
“versuchter” frequency rank
23344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature versuche versuchter
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs versuchen Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs versucht

Where the eye mixes versuche and versuchter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. versuche runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against versuchter's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
versuche
10 ch
versuchter

Why the eye confuses versuche with versuchter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: versuche is [fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxə] while versuchter is [fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 23344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

versuche is recorded at frequency rank #1,144, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxə]. versuchter is at rank #22,200, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxtɐ].

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 23344, this pair ranks #1,862,496 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of versuche vs versuchter

Shared letters: cehrsuv. Private to "versuche": -. Private to "versuchter": t.

"versuche" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "versuchter" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versuche ← evrsuche · verrsuche · verscuhe · verssuche · versucche · versuceh · versuchhe · versuhce
  • versuchter ← evrsuchter · verrsuchter · verscuhter · verssuchter · versucchter · versuchetr · versuchhter · versuchterr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "versuche" for "versuchter" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "versuche" is a verb and "versuchter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "versuche" or "versuchter"?
"versuche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,144 in our German list, against #22,200 for "versuchter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "versuche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versuchter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,862,496 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "versuche" and "versuchter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verfechter vs versuchter". 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 #1,862,496 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