ÜbertreibungvsÜbertreibungenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Übertreibung” and “Übertreibungen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,719
“Übertreibung” frequency rank
#47,902
“Übertreibungen” frequency rank
74621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Übertreibung Übertreibungen
Definition übersteigerte Darstellung einer Tatsache Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Übertreibung

Where the eye mixes Übertreibung and Übertreibungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence.

12 ch
Übertreibung
14 ch
Übertreibungen

Look-alike desk: Übertreibung vs Übertreibungen

A purely visual mix-up. Übertreibung ([yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bʊŋ]) and Übertreibungen ([yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bʊŋən]) 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) - “Übertreibung” sits inside “Übertreibungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Übertreibung is recorded at frequency rank #26,719, classified as anoun, pronounced [yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bʊŋ]. Übertreibungen is at rank #47,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced [yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bʊŋən].

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 74621, this pair ranks #328,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Übertreibung vs Übertreibungen

Shared letters: beginrtuü. Private to "Übertreibung": -. Private to "Übertreibungen": -.

"Übertreibung" · 12 letters · shape VCVCCCVVCVCC  ·  "Übertreibungen" · 14 letters · shape VCVCCCVVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Übertreibung" and "Übertreibungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bʊŋ] versus [yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Übertreibung" or "Übertreibungen"?
"Übertreibung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,719 in our German list, against #47,902 for "Übertreibungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Übertreibung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Übertreibungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #328,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Übertreibung" and "Übertreibungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "übertreiben vs Übertreibung". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #328,657 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