Which to use
“verursacht” is a verb and “verursachten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,004
- “verursacht” frequency rank
- #14,981
- “verursachten” frequency rank
- 17985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verursacht | verursachten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verursachen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verursacht |
Where the eye mixes verursacht and verursachten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verursacht runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCCC) against verursachten's 12 (CVCVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verursacht with verursachten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verursacht is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxt] while verursachten is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “verursacht” sits inside “verursachten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verursacht is recorded at frequency rank #3,004, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxt]. verursachten is at rank #14,981, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxtn̩].
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 17985, this pair ranks #1,922,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verursacht vs verursachten
Shared letters: acehrstuv. Private to "verursacht": -. Private to "verursachten": n.
"verursacht" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCC · "verursachten" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verursacht ← evrursacht · verrursacht · verrusacht · verurascht · verurrsacht · verursaccht · verursachht · verursachtt
- verursachten ← evrursachten · verrursachten · verrusachten · veruraschten · verurrsachten · verursacchten · verursachetn · verursachhten
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verursacht" and "verursachten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "verursacht" vs "verursachten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verursacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verursachten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,922,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verursacht" and "verursachten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verursacher vs verursachten". 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 #1,922,448 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.