Which to use
“überrascht” and “überraschte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,954
- “überrascht” frequency rank
- #20,147
- “überraschte” frequency rank
- 22101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | überrascht | überraschte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch etwas Unerwartetes in Erstaunen gesetzt | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überrascht |
Where the eye mixes überrascht and überraschte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. überrascht runs 10 letters (VCVCCVCCCC) against überraschte's 11 (VCVCCVCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses überrascht with überraschte
A purely visual mix-up. überrascht ([yːbɐˈʁaʃt]) and überraschte ([yːbɐˈʁaʃtə]) 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) - “überrascht” sits inside “überraschte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
überrascht is recorded at frequency rank #1,954, classified as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈʁaʃt]. überraschte is at rank #20,147, tagged as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈʁaʃtə].
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 22101, this pair ranks #1,878,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of überrascht vs überraschte
Shared letters: abcehrstü. Private to "überrascht": -. Private to "überraschte": -.
"überrascht" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCC · "überraschte" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "überrascht" and "überraschte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "überrascht" or "überraschte" 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 "überrascht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "überraschte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,878,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "überrascht" and "überraschte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überraschte vs überraschten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,878,302 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.