Which to use
“überrascht” and “überraschten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,954
- “überrascht” frequency rank
- #49,431
- “überraschten” frequency rank
- 51385
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | überrascht | überraschten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch etwas Unerwartetes in Erstaunen gesetzt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überrascht |
Where the eye mixes überrascht and überraschten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. überrascht runs 10 letters (VCVCCVCCCC) against überraschten's 12 (VCVCCVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses überrascht with überraschten
A purely visual mix-up. überrascht ([yːbɐˈʁaʃt]) and überraschten ([yːbɐˈʁaʃtn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “überrascht” sits inside “überraschten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51385, 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]. überraschten is at rank #49,431, tagged as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈʁaʃtn̩].
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 51385, this pair ranks #1,137,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of überrascht vs überraschten
Shared letters: abcehrstü. Private to "überrascht": -. Private to "überraschten": n.
"überrascht" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCC · "überraschten" · 12 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "überrascht" and "überraschten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "überrascht" or "überraschten" show up more?
What to do next
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 "überraschten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,137,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "überrascht" and "überraschten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überdachten vs überraschten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,137,528 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.