verweigernvsVerweigerungWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verweigern is a verb, Verweigerung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verweigern” is a verb and “Verweigerung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,293
“verweigern” frequency rank
#22,201
“Verweigerung” frequency rank
31494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verweigern Verweigerung
Definition etwas nicht zulassen; eine starrsinnige Haltung einnehmen Ablehnung von etwas Erwünschtem

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
verweigern
12 ch
Verweigerung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verweigern is [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn] while Verweigerung is [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡəʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verweigern is recorded at frequency rank #9,293, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]. Verweigerung is at rank #22,201, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡəʁʊŋ].

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 31494, this pair ranks #1,726,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verweigern vs Verweigerung

Shared letters: eginrvw. Private to "verweigern": -. Private to "Verweigerung": u.

"verweigern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCC  ·  "Verweigerung" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verweigernevrweigern · verewigern · verrweigern · verwegiern · verweiegrn · verweigenr · verweigernn · verweigerrn
  • Verweigerungevrweigerung · verewigerung · verrweigerung · verwegierung · verweiegrung · verweigernug · verweigerrung · verweigerugn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verweigern" and "Verweigerung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verweigern" is a verb and "Verweigerung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verweigern" or "Verweigerung"?
"verweigern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,293 in our German list, against #22,201 for "Verweigerung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list