verweisevsverzeiheConfusable pair

Which to use

“verweise” and “verzeihe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,204
“verweise” frequency rank
#36,712
“verzeihe” frequency rank
50916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verweise verzeihe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verweisen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verzeihen

Where the eye mixes verweise and verzeihe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verweise and verzeihe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
verweise
8 ch
verzeihe

Why the eye confuses verweise with verzeihe

A purely visual mix-up. verweise ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zə]) and verzeihe ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ə]) 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 50916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verweise is recorded at frequency rank #14,204, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zə]. verzeihe is at rank #36,712, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ə].

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 50916, this pair ranks #1,155,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verweise vs verzeihe

Shared letters: eirv. Private to "verweise": sw. Private to "verzeihe": hz.

"verweise" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "verzeihe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verweiseevrweise · verewise · verrweise · verweies · verweisse · verwesie · verwiese · verwweise
  • verzeiheevrzeihe · verezihe · verrzeihe · verzehie · verzeieh · verzeihhe · verziehe · verzzeihe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verweise" for "verzeihe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verweise" vs "verzeihe" - which ranks higher?
"verweise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,204 in our German list, against #36,712 for "verzeihe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verweise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verzeihe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,155,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verweise" and "verzeihe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verzeihe vs vorzeige". 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 #1,155,462 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