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 spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set überwacht and überwachte apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
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
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "überwacht" and "überwachte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "überwacht" or "überwachte"?
Remembering überwacht vs überwachte
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “überwacht”; for an adjective, it's “überwachte”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “überwacht” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable