VerteidigervsverteidigtenTell them apart

Quick tell: Verteidiger is a noun, verteidigten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Verteidiger” is a noun and “verteidigten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,989
“Verteidiger” frequency rank
#39,111
“verteidigten” frequency rank
46100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verteidiger verteidigten
Definition defensiv eingestellter Spieler, dessen Aufgabe es ist, das gegnerische Spiel zu stören, um anschließend das eigene Spiel wieder aufbauen zu können Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verteidigt

Where the eye mixes Verteidiger and verteidigten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Verteidiger runs 11 letters (CVCCVVCVCVC) against verteidigten's 12 (CVCCVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
Verteidiger
12 ch
verteidigten

Why the eye confuses Verteidiger with verteidigten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verteidiger is [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡɐ] while verteidigten is [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪçtn̩]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verteidiger is recorded at frequency rank #6,989, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪɡɐ]. verteidigten is at rank #39,111, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯dɪçtn̩].

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 46100, this pair ranks #1,330,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Verteidiger vs verteidigten

Shared letters: degirtv. Private to "Verteidiger": -. Private to "verteidigten": n.

"Verteidiger" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVC  ·  "verteidigten" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verteidiger ← evrteidiger · veretidiger · verrteidiger · vertediiger · verteiddiger · verteidgier · verteidiegr · verteidigerr
  • verteidigten ← evrteidigten · veretidigten · verrteidigten · vertediigten · verteiddigten · verteidgiten · verteidigetn · verteidiggten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Verteidiger" for "verteidigten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Verteidiger" is a noun and "verteidigten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Verteidiger" vs "verteidigten" - which ranks higher?
"Verteidiger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,989 in our German list, against #39,111 for "verteidigten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Verteidiger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verteidigten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,330,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verteidiger" and "verteidigten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verteidige vs verteidigten". 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 #1,330,633 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