Which to use
“verwehren” and “verwenden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,351
- “verwehren” frequency rank
- #1,998
- “verwenden” frequency rank
- 33349
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verwehren | verwenden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht erlauben, nicht gestatten, verbieten, versperren; jemandem etwas nicht gewähren | etwas benutzen, zu einem bestimmten Zweck einsetzen |
Where the eye mixes verwehren and verwenden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verwehren and verwenden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verwehren vs verwenden
A purely visual mix-up. verwehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈveːʁən]) and verwenden ([fɛɐ̯ˈvɛndn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verwehren is recorded at frequency rank #31,351, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈveːʁən]. verwenden is at rank #1,998, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɛndn̩].
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 33349, this pair ranks #1,687,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verwehren vs verwenden
Shared letters: enrvw. Private to "verwehren": h. Private to "verwenden": d.
"verwehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verwenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verwehren" and "verwenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verwehren" or "verwenden" show up more?
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 "verwehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verwenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,687,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verwehren" and "verwenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwehren vs verworren". 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 #1,687,887 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.