Which to use
“überwacht” is a verb and “überwachte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,559
- “überwacht” frequency rank
- #44,408
- “überwachte” frequency rank
- 51967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | überwacht | überwachte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs überwachen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs überwacht |
Where the eye mixes überwacht and überwachte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. überwacht runs 9 letters (VCVCCVCCC) against überwachte's 10 (VCVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: überwacht vs überwachte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: überwacht is [ˌyːbɐˈvaxt] while überwachte is [ˌyːbɐˈvaxtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “überwacht” sits inside “überwachte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
überwacht is recorded at frequency rank #7,559, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈvaxt]. überwachte is at rank #44,408, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈvaxtə].
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 51967, this pair ranks #1,115,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of überwacht vs überwachte
Shared letters: abcehrtwü. Private to "überwacht": -. Private to "überwachte": -.
"überwacht" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCC · "überwachte" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "überwacht" for "überwachte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "überwacht" or "überwachte" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "überwacht" and "überwachte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "überwacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "überwachte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,115,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "überwacht" and "überwachte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überbrachte vs überwachte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,115,071 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.