überprüfevsüberprüfenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,728
“überprüfe” frequency rank
#3,634
“überprüfen” frequency rank
49362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überprüfe überprüfen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs überprüfen (erstmals oder nochmals) kontrollieren, wiederholt nachschauen

Where the eye mixes überprüfe and überprüfen

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

9 ch
überprüfe
10 ch
überprüfen

Why the eye confuses überprüfe with überprüfen

A purely visual mix-up. überprüfe ([yːbɐˈpʁyːfə]) and überprüfen ([yːbɐˈpʁyːfn̩]) 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) - “überprüfe” sits inside “überprüfen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überprüfe is recorded at frequency rank #45,728, classified as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈpʁyːfə]. überprüfen is at rank #3,634, tagged as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈpʁyːfn̩].

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 49362, this pair ranks #1,214,363 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of überprüfe vs überprüfen

Shared letters: befprü. Private to "überprüfe": -. Private to "überprüfen": n.

"überprüfe" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCCVCV  ·  "überprüfen" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "überprüfe" and "überprüfen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([yːbɐˈpʁyːfə] versus [yːbɐˈpʁyːfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "überprüfe" vs "überprüfen" - which ranks higher?
"überprüfen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,634 in our German list, against #45,728 for "überprüfe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "überprüfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überprüfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,214,363 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überprüfe" and "überprüfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überprüfe vs überprüfte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,214,363 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