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 eye mixes überprüfen and überprüfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. überprüfen (VCVCCCVCVC) and überprüfte (VCVCCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between überprüfen and überprüfte
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "überprüfen" and "überprüfte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "überprüfen" or "überprüfte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "überprüfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "überprüfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,336,094 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "überprüfen" and "überprüfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überprüfe vs überprüfte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,336,094 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.