verwundernvsverwundeteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#40,293
“verwundern” frequency rank
#25,819
“verwundete” frequency rank
66112
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verwundern verwundete
Definition jemanden erstaunen lassen, in Erstaunen über etwas versetzen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verwundet

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
verwundern
10 ch
verwundete

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

verwundern and verwundete form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verwundern is recorded at frequency rank #40,293, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvʊndɐn]. verwundete is at rank #25,819, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvʊndətə].

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 66112, this pair ranks #584,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

verwundern#40,293
verwundete#25,819

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verwundern" and "verwundete" be used interchangeably?
No, "verwundern" and "verwundete" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering verwundern vs verwundete

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verwundern”; for an adjective, it's “verwundete”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verwundern” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list