verursachtvsverursachtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verursacht is a verb, verursachten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verursacht and verursachten apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
verursacht
12 ch
verursachten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

verursacht and verursachten form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “verursacht” sits inside “verursachten” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. 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.

Frequency comparison

verursacht#3,004
verursachten#14,981

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verursacht" and "verursachten" be used interchangeably?
No, "verursacht" and "verursachten" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering verursacht vs verursachten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verursacht”; for an adjective, it's “verursachten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verursacht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list