überlebtevsüberlegtWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: überlebte is a adjective, überlegt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“überlebte” is an adjective and “überlegt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,200
“überlebte” frequency rank
#3,633
“überlegt” frequency rank
20833
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überlebte überlegt
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überlebt Partizip Perfekt des Verbs überlegen

Where the eye mixes überlebte and überlegt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. überlebte runs 9 letters (VCVCCVCCV) against überlegt's 8 (VCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
überlebte
8 ch
überlegt

Why the eye confuses überlebte with überlegt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: überlebte is [ˌyːbɐˈleːptə] while überlegt is [ˌyːbɐˈleːkt]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20833, 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]. überlegt is at rank #3,633, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːkt].

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 20833, this pair ranks #1,893,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überlebte vs überlegt

Shared letters: belrtü. Private to "überlebte": -. Private to "überlegt": g.

"überlebte" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV  ·  "überlegt" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überlebte" for "überlegt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "überlebte" is an adjective and "überlegt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "überlebte" vs "überlegt" - which ranks higher?
"überlegt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,633 in our German list, against #17,200 for "überlebte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "überlebte" and "überlegt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "überlebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überlegt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,893,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überlebte" and "überlegt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überlegst vs überlegt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,893,224 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