verzichtenvsverzichtetenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,567
“verzichten” frequency rank
#37,876
“verzichteten” frequency rank
40443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verzichten verzichteten
Definition Ansprüche auf etwas freiwillig aufgeben; etwas aus seiner freien Entscheidung heraus nicht tun Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verzichtet

Where the eye mixes verzichten and verzichteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verzichten runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCCVC) against verzichteten's 12 (CVCCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
verzichten
12 ch
verzichteten

Visual trap between verzichten and verzichteten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verzichten is [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɪçtn̩] while verzichteten is [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɪçtətn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verzichten is recorded at frequency rank #2,567, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɪçtn̩]. verzichteten is at rank #37,876, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɪçtətn̩].

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 40443, this pair ranks #1,508,357 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verzichten vs verzichteten

Shared letters: cehinrtvz. Private to "verzichten": -. Private to "verzichteten": -.

"verzichten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC  ·  "verzichteten" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verzichten ← evrzichten · verizchten · verrzichten · verzcihten · verzicchten · verzichetn · verzichhten · verzichtenn
  • verzichteten ← evrzichteten · verizchteten · verrzichteten · verzcihteten · verzicchteten · verzichetten · verzichhteten · verzichteetn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verzichten" for "verzichteten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verzichten" is a verb and "verzichteten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "verzichten" or "verzichteten" show up more?
"verzichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,567 in our German list, against #37,876 for "verzichteten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "verzichten" and "verzichteten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verzichten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verzichteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,508,357 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verzichten" and "verzichteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vernichtete vs verzichteten". 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 #1,508,357 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