verwöhnenvsverwöhnteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,253
“verwöhnen” frequency rank
#43,606
“verwöhnte” frequency rank
58859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verwöhnen verwöhnte
Definition jemandem Gutes tun, indem man ihm besondere Vorteile zukommen lässt und vor Unbehagen schützt, und dies, ohne eine besondere Gegenleistung zu erwarten/erhalten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verwöhnt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verwöhnen and verwöhnte apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
verwöhnen
9 ch
verwöhnte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verwöhnen is [fɛɐ̯ˈvøːnən] while verwöhnte is [fɛɐ̯ˈvøːntə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verwöhnen is recorded at frequency rank #15,253, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvøːnən]. verwöhnte is at rank #43,606, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvøːntə].

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 58859, this pair ranks #846,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verwöhnen vs verwöhnte

Shared letters: ehnrvwö. Private to "verwöhnen": -. Private to "verwöhnte": t.

"verwöhnen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verwöhnte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Frequency comparison

verwöhnen#15,253
verwöhnte#43,606

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verwöhnen" and "verwöhnte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verwöhnen" is a verb and "verwöhnte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verwöhnen" or "verwöhnte"?
"verwöhnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,253 in our German list, against #43,606 for "verwöhnte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verwöhnen vs verwöhnte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verwöhnen”; for an adjective, it's “verwöhnte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verwöhnen” 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