überbrachtevsüberraschteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#47,166
“überbrachte” frequency rank
#20,147
“überraschte” frequency rank
67313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überbrachte überraschte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überbracht Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überrascht

Where the eye mixes überbrachte and überraschte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. überbrachte (VCVCCCVCCCV) and überraschte (VCVCCVCCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
überbrachte
11 ch
überraschte

Visual trap between überbrachte and überraschte

A purely visual mix-up. überbrachte ([ˌyːbɐˈbʁaxtə]) and überraschte ([yːbɐˈʁaʃtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überbrachte is recorded at frequency rank #47,166, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈbʁaxtə]. überraschte is at rank #20,147, tagged as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈʁaʃtə].

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 67313, this pair ranks #544,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of überbrachte vs überraschte

Shared letters: abcehrtü. Private to "überbrachte": -. Private to "überraschte": s.

"überbrachte" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCCVCCCV  ·  "überraschte" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überbrachte" for "überraschte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈbʁaxtə] versus [yːbɐˈʁaʃtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "überbrachte" or "überraschte" show up more?
"überraschte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,147 in our German list, against #47,166 for "überbrachte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "überbrachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überraschte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #544,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überbrachte" and "überraschte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überbrachte vs überwachte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #544,243 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