überprüfenvsüberprüfteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: überprüfen is a verb, überprüfte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,634
“überprüfen” frequency rank
#42,303
“überprüfte” frequency rank
45937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überprüfen überprüfte
Definition (erstmals oder nochmals) kontrollieren, wiederholt nachschauen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überprüft

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set überprüfen and überprüfte apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
überprüfen
10 ch
überprüfte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: überprüfen is [yːbɐˈpʁyːfn̩] while überprüfte is [yːbɐˈpʁyːftə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überprüfen is recorded at frequency rank #3,634, classified as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈpʁyːfn̩]. überprüfte is at rank #42,303, tagged as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈpʁyːftə].

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 45937, this pair ranks #1,336,094 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of überprüfen vs überprüfte

Shared letters: befprü. Private to "überprüfen": n. Private to "überprüfte": t.

"überprüfen" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCCVCVC  ·  "überprüfte" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCCVCCV

Frequency comparison

überprüfen#3,634
überprüfte#42,303

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "überprüfen" and "überprüfte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "überprüfen" is a verb and "überprüfte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "überprüfen" or "überprüfte"?
"überprüfen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,634 in our German list, against #42,303 for "überprüfte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering überprüfen vs überprüfte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “überprüfen”; for an adjective, it's “überprüfte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “überprüfen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list