Which to use
“verzeihen” and “verziehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,200
- “verzeihen” frequency rank
- #20,118
- “verziehen” frequency rank
- 32318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verzeihen | verziehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem etwas nachsehen | aus der Form geraten |
Where the eye mixes verzeihen and verziehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verzeihen and verziehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verzeihen and verziehen
A purely visual mix-up. verzeihen ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ən]) and verziehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verzeihen is recorded at frequency rank #12,200, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ən]. verziehen is at rank #20,118, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːən].
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 32318, this pair ranks #1,710,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verzeihen vs verziehen
Shared letters: ehinrvz. Private to "verzeihen": -. Private to "verziehen": -.
"verzeihen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verziehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verzeihen" for "verziehen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verzeihen" or "verziehen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verzeihen" and "verziehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verzeihen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verziehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,710,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verzeihen" and "verziehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verzieh vs verziehen". 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 #1,710,191 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.