Which to use
“verteidige” is a verb and “Verteidiger” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,973
- “verteidige” frequency rank
- #6,989
- “Verteidiger” frequency rank
- 41962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verteidige | Verteidiger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verteidigen | defensiv eingestellter Spieler, dessen Aufgabe es ist, das gegnerische Spiel zu stören, um anschließend das eigene Spiel wieder aufbauen zu können |
Where the eye mixes verteidige and Verteidiger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verteidige runs 10 letters (CVCCVVCVCV) against Verteidiger's 11 (CVCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verteidige with Verteidiger
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verteidige is [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡə] while Verteidiger is [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verteidige” sits inside “Verteidiger”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verteidige is recorded at frequency rank #34,973, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡə]. Verteidiger is at rank #6,989, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡɐ].
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 41962, this pair ranks #1,463,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verteidige vs Verteidiger
Shared letters: degirtv. Private to "verteidige": -. Private to "Verteidiger": -.
"verteidige" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV · "Verteidiger" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verteidige ← evrteidige · veretidige · verrteidige · vertediige · verteiddige · verteidgie · verteidieg · verteidigge
- Verteidiger ← evrteidiger · veretidiger · verrteidiger · vertediiger · verteiddiger · verteidgier · verteidiegr · verteidigerr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verteidige" for "Verteidiger" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verteidige" or "Verteidiger" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verteidige" and "Verteidiger" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verteidige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Verteidiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,463,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verteidige" and "Verteidiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verteidige vs Verteidigers". 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 #1,463,766 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.