Which to use
“verzögern” is a verb and “verzögert” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,468
- “verzögern” frequency rank
- #11,150
- “verzögert” frequency rank
- 32618
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verzögern | verzögert |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Ablauf unterbrechen, so dass ein bestimmtes Ereignis später eintrifft | später geschehen, als erwartet oder vorgesehen; unplanmäßig spät |
Where the eye mixes verzögern and verzögert
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verzögern and verzögert follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verzögern with verzögert
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verzögern is [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡søːɡɐn] while verzögert is [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡søːɡɐt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “verzögern” becomes t in “verzögert”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verzögern is recorded at frequency rank #21,468, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡søːɡɐn]. verzögert is at rank #11,150, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡søːɡɐt].
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 32618, this pair ranks #1,703,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verzögern vs verzögert
Shared letters: egrvzö. Private to "verzögern": n. Private to "verzögert": t.
"verzögern" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC · "verzögert" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verzögern" and "verzögert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verzögern" or "verzögert" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verzögern" and "verzögert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verzögern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verzögert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,703,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verzögern" and "verzögert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verärgern vs verzögern". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,703,758 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.