zurückgelassenvszurücklassenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“zurückgelassen” and “zurücklassen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,464
“zurückgelassen” frequency rank
#28,487
“zurücklassen” frequency rank
47951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zurückgelassen zurücklassen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs zurücklassen etwas oder jemanden dort lassen, wo es/er sich befindet, während man selbst sich fortbewegt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set zurückgelassen and zurücklassen apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

14 ch
zurückgelassen
12 ch
zurücklassen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. zurückgelassen ([t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌlasn̩]) and zurücklassen ([t͡suˈʁʏkˌlasn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zurückgelassen is recorded at frequency rank #19,464, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌlasn̩]. zurücklassen is at rank #28,487, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈʁʏkˌlasn̩].

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 47951, this pair ranks #1,266,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zurückgelassen vs zurücklassen

Shared letters: aceklnrsuzü. Private to "zurückgelassen": g. Private to "zurücklassen": -.

"zurückgelassen" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCCVC  ·  "zurücklassen" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

zurückgelassen#19,464
zurücklassen#28,487

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zurückgelassen" and "zurücklassen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌlasn̩] versus [t͡suˈʁʏkˌlasn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zurückgelassen" or "zurücklassen"?
"zurückgelassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,464 in our German list, against #28,487 for "zurücklassen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering zurückgelassen vs zurücklassen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list