verteilenvsverurteilenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,573
“verteilen” frequency rank
#11,350
“verurteilen” frequency rank
15923
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verteilen verurteilen
Definition mehreren Personen einen Teil von etwas geben über jemanden ein gerichtliches Urteil fällen, das zu einer Bestrafung führt

Where the eye mixes verteilen and verurteilen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
verteilen
11 ch
verurteilen

Why the eye confuses verteilen with verurteilen

A purely visual mix-up. verteilen ([fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən]) and verurteilen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯lən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verteilen is recorded at frequency rank #4,573, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən]. verurteilen is at rank #11,350, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯lən].

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 15923, this pair ranks #1,940,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verteilen vs verurteilen

Shared letters: eilnrtv. Private to "verteilen": -. Private to "verurteilen": u.

"verteilen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verurteilen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verteilenevrteilen · veretilen · verrteilen · verteieln · verteilenn · verteillen · verteilne · vertelien
  • verurteilenevrurteilen · verrurteilen · verruteilen · veruretilen · verurrteilen · verurteieln · verurteilenn · verurteillen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verteilen" and "verurteilen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verteilen" or "verurteilen"?
"verteilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,573 in our German list, against #11,350 for "verurteilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verteilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verurteilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,940,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verteilen" and "verurteilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verteile vs verteilen". 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 #1,940,065 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