verteidigevsverteidigtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,973
“verteidige” frequency rank
#5,230
“verteidigt” frequency rank
40203
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verteidige verteidigt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verteidigen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verteidigen

Where the eye mixes verteidige and verteidigt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verteidige (CVCCVVCVCV) and verteidigt (CVCCVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
verteidige
10 ch
verteidigt

Visual trap between verteidige and verteidigt

A purely visual mix-up. verteidige ([fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡə]) and verteidigt ([fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪçt]) 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 a single letter - e in “verteidige” becomes t in “verteidigt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40203, 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]. verteidigt is at rank #5,230, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪçt].

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 40203, this pair ranks #1,515,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verteidige vs verteidigt

Shared letters: degirtv. Private to "verteidige": -. Private to "verteidigt": -.

"verteidige" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV  ·  "verteidigt" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verteidige ← evrteidige · veretidige · verrteidige · vertediige · verteiddige · verteidgie · verteidieg · verteidigge
  • verteidigt ← evrteidigt · veretidigt · verrteidigt · vertediigt · verteiddigt · verteidgit · verteidiggt · verteidigtt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verteidige" for "verteidigt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪçt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verteidige" or "verteidigt" show up more?
"verteidigt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,230 in our German list, against #34,973 for "verteidige". 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 "verteidige" and "verteidigt" 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 "verteidigt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,515,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verteidige" and "verteidigt" 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 #1,515,196 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