überlebtenvsüberlegenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,590
“überlebten” frequency rank
#2,421
“überlegen” frequency rank
30011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überlebten überlegen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überlebt deutlich besser oder stärker

Where the eye mixes überlebten and überlegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. überlebten runs 10 letters (VCVCCVCCVC) against überlegen's 9 (VCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
überlebten
9 ch
überlegen

Look-alike desk: überlebten vs überlegen

A purely visual mix-up. überlebten ([ˌyːbɐˈleːptn̩]) and überlegen ([ˌyːbɐˈleːɡn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überlebten is recorded at frequency rank #27,590, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːptn̩]. überlegen is at rank #2,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːɡn̩].

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 30011, this pair ranks #1,756,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überlebten vs überlegen

Shared letters: belnrü. Private to "überlebten": t. Private to "überlegen": g.

"überlebten" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC  ·  "überlegen" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überlebten" for "überlegen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈleːptn̩] versus [ˌyːbɐˈleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "überlebten" vs "überlegen" - which ranks higher?
"überlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,421 in our German list, against #27,590 for "überlebten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "überlebten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überlegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,756,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überlebten" and "überlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überlebten vs überlesen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,756,074 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