Which to use
“überlebte” and “überlebten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,200
- “überlebte” frequency rank
- #27,590
- “überlebten” frequency rank
- 44790
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | überlebte | überlebten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überlebt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überlebt |
Where the eye mixes überlebte and überlebten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. überlebte runs 9 letters (VCVCCVCCV) against überlebten's 10 (VCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between überlebte and überlebten
A purely visual mix-up. überlebte ([ˌyːbɐˈleːptə]) and überlebten ([ˌyːbɐˈleːptn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “überlebte” sits inside “überlebten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
überlebte is recorded at frequency rank #17,200, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːptə]. überlebten is at rank #27,590, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːptn̩].
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 44790, this pair ranks #1,374,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of überlebte vs überlebten
Shared letters: belrtü. Private to "überlebte": -. Private to "überlebten": n.
"überlebte" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV · "überlebten" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "überlebte" and "überlebten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "überlebte" or "überlebten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "überlebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "überlebten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,374,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "überlebte" and "überlebten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überlebten vs überlesen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,374,615 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.