verpflichten
[fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩]
The verdict
“verpflichten” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #10,390 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #10,390
- frequency rank, German
- 12
- letters
- 20
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - jemanden in die Pflicht nehmen, etwas zu tun
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | verpflichten |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩] |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #10,390 |
| Misspellings tracked | 20 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “verpflichten” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for verpflichten is 12 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #10,390 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 20 likely wrong-spelling variants for verpflichten, with forms such as "evrpflichten", "veprflichten", and "verfplichten". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "verpflichtet", "Verpflichtung", "verpflichtete", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is verpflichten, spelled V-E-R-P-F-L-I-C-H-T-E-N.
Definition
- 1jemanden in die Pflicht nehmen, etwas zu tun
- 2etwas verbindlich zusagen, eine Pflicht auf sich nehmen; Militär: freiwillig und vertraglich Soldat werden für längere Zeit, als die Wehrpflicht es erzwänge
- 3jemanden in ein Treue- oder Leistungsverhältnis einem selbst gegenüber bringen (etwa durch Vorleistungen ihm gegenüber)
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evrpflichten,veprflichten,verfplichten,verpfflichten,verpfilchten,verpflcihten,verpflicchten,verpflichetn,verpflichhten,verpflichtenn,verpflichtne,verpflichtten,verpflicthen,verpflihcten,verpfllichten,verplfichten,verppflichten,verrpflichten,vrepflichten,vverpflichten
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of verpflichten - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "verpflichten"?
What does "verpflichten" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "verpflichten"?
How do you pronounce "verpflichten"?
What language does "verpflichten" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “verpflichten”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is V-E-R-P-F-L-I-C-H-T-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “verpflichtet” - see the side-by-side comparison. verpflichten vs verpflichtet
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.