Which to use
“überfordern” is a verb and “überforderte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,890
- “überfordern” frequency rank
- #48,666
- “überforderte” frequency rank
- 78556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | überfordern | überforderte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mehr von jemandem verlangen, als er leisten kann | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überfordert |
Where the eye mixes überfordern and überforderte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. überfordern runs 11 letters (VCVCCVCCVCC) against überforderte's 12 (VCVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: überfordern vs überforderte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: überfordern is [yːbɐˈfɔʁdɐn] while überforderte is [yːbɐˈfɔʁdɐtə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
überfordern is recorded at frequency rank #29,890, classified as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈfɔʁdɐn]. überforderte is at rank #48,666, tagged as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈfɔʁdɐtə].
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 78556, this pair ranks #235,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of überfordern vs überforderte
Shared letters: bdeforü. Private to "überfordern": n. Private to "überforderte": t.
"überfordern" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVCC · "überforderte" · 12 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "überfordern" and "überforderte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "überfordern" or "überforderte" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "überfordern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "überforderte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "überfordern" and "überforderte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überfordern vs Überforderung". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #235,645 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.