überlegevsüberlegtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,318
“überlege” frequency rank
#3,633
“überlegt” frequency rank
11951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überlege überlegt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs überlegen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs überlegen

Where the eye mixes überlege and überlegt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. überlege (VCVCCVCV) and überlegt (VCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
überlege
8 ch
überlegt

Look-alike desk: überlege vs überlegt

A purely visual mix-up. überlege ([ˌyːbɐˈleːɡə]) and überlegt ([ˌyːbɐˈleːkt]) 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 a single letter - e in “überlege” becomes t in “überlegt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überlege is recorded at frequency rank #8,318, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːɡə]. 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 11951, this pair ranks #1,967,032 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überlege vs überlegt

Shared letters: beglrü. Private to "überlege": -. Private to "überlegt": t.

"überlege" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "überlegt" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überlege" for "überlegt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈleːɡə] versus [ˌyːbɐˈleːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "überlege" or "überlegt"?
"überlegt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,633 in our German list, against #8,318 for "überlege". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "überlege" 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 #1,967,032 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überlege" and "überlegt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überlege vs überlesen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,967,032 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