Which to use
“über” is a preposition and “under” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #54
- “über” frequency rank
- #11,769
- “under” frequency rank
- 11823
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | über | under |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | oberhalb liegend (Antwort auf die Frage „wo?“) | darunter, hinunter, unten |
Where the eye mixes über and under
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between über and under
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: über is [ˈyːbɐ] while under is [ˈʌndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
über is recorded at frequency rank #54, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈyːbɐ]. under is at rank #11,769, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈʌndə].
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 11823, this pair ranks #1,967,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of über vs under
Shared letters: er. Private to "über": bü. Private to "under": dnu.
"über" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "under" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- under ← nuder · udner · undder · underr · undre · unedr · unnder
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "über" for "under" ever safe?
Frequency check: "über" vs "under" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "über" and "under" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "über" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "under" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,967,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "über" and "under" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "under vs Unzen". 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 #1,967,697 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.