ÜberstundenvsüberwundenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Überstunden is a noun, überwunden is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Überstunden” is a noun and “überwunden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,849
“Überstunden” frequency rank
#10,602
“überwunden” frequency rank
23451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Überstunden überwunden
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Überstunde Partizip Perfekt des Verbs überwinden

Where the eye mixes Überstunden and überwunden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Überstunden runs 11 letters (VCVCCCVCCVC) against überwunden's 10 (VCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
Überstunden
10 ch
überwunden

Look-alike desk: Überstunden vs überwunden

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Überstunden is [ˈyːbɐʃtʊndn̩] while überwunden is [yːbɐˈvʊndn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Überstunden is recorded at frequency rank #12,849, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈyːbɐʃtʊndn̩]. überwunden is at rank #10,602, tagged as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈvʊndn̩].

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 23451, this pair ranks #1,861,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Überstunden vs überwunden

Shared letters: bdenruü. Private to "Überstunden": st. Private to "überwunden": w.

"Überstunden" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "überwunden" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Überstunden" for "überwunden" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Überstunden" is a noun and "überwunden" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Überstunden" or "überwunden"?
"überwunden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,602 in our German list, against #12,849 for "Überstunden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Überstunden" and "überwunden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Überstunden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überwunden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,861,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Überstunden" and "überwunden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überwindet vs überwunden". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,861,170 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