verursachenvsverursachtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,253
“verursachen” frequency rank
#3,004
“verursacht” frequency rank
9257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verursachen verursacht
Definition etwas auslösen, der Grund für etwas sein, den Ursprung für etwas bilden, für etwas verantwortlich sein 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verursachen

Where the eye mixes verursachen and verursacht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verursachen runs 11 letters (CVCVCCVCCVC) against verursacht's 10 (CVCVCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verursachen
10 ch
verursacht

Visual trap between verursachen and verursacht

A purely visual mix-up. verursachen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxn̩]) and verursacht ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verursachen is recorded at frequency rank #6,253, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxn̩]. verursacht is at rank #3,004, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxt].

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 9257, this pair ranks #1,980,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verursachen vs verursacht

Shared letters: acehrsuv. Private to "verursachen": n. Private to "verursacht": t.

"verursachen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC  ·  "verursacht" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verursachen ← evrursachen · verrursachen · verrusachen · veruraschen · verurrsachen · verursacchen · verursacehn · verursachenn
  • verursacht ← evrursacht · verrursacht · verrusacht · verurascht · verurrsacht · verursaccht · verursachht · verursachtt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verursachen" and "verursacht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verursachen" or "verursacht"?
"verursacht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,004 in our German list, against #6,253 for "verursachen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verursachen" and "verursacht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verursachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verursacht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,980,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verursachen" and "verursacht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verursachen vs Verursacher". 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 #1,980,760 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