verurteilenvsverurteilterWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

“verurteilen” is a verb and “verurteilter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,350
“verurteilen” frequency rank
#36,709
“verurteilter” frequency rank
48059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verurteilen verurteilter
Definition über jemanden ein gerichtliches Urteil fällen, das zu einer Bestrafung führt Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verurteilt

Where the eye mixes verurteilen and verurteilter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

11 ch
verurteilen
12 ch
verurteilter

Why the eye confuses verurteilen with verurteilter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verurteilen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯lən] while verurteilter is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯ltɐ]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verurteilen is recorded at frequency rank #11,350, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯lən]. verurteilter is at rank #36,709, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔʊʁtaɪ̯ltɐ].

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 48059, this pair ranks #1,262,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verurteilen vs verurteilter

Shared letters: eilrtuv. Private to "verurteilen": n. Private to "verurteilter": -.

"verurteilen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVC  ·  "verurteilter" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verurteilenevrurteilen · verrurteilen · verruteilen · veruretilen · verurrteilen · verurteieln · verurteilenn · verurteillen
  • verurteilterevrurteilter · verrurteilter · verruteilter · veruretilter · verurrteilter · verurteiletr · verurteillter · verurteilterr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verurteilen" and "verurteilter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verurteilen" is a verb and "verurteilter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verurteilen" vs "verurteilter" - which ranks higher?
"verurteilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,350 in our German list, against #36,709 for "verurteilter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verurteilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verurteilter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,262,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verurteilen" and "verurteilter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verurteile vs verurteilter". 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 #1,262,300 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