überwiegenvsüberwiegendeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: überwiegen is a verb, überwiegende is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“überwiegen” is a verb and “überwiegende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,069
“überwiegen” frequency rank
#15,016
“überwiegende” frequency rank
31085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überwiegen überwiegende
Definition die Mehrheit haben, sich deshalb durchsetzen und die Oberhand gewinnen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überwiegend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set überwiegen and überwiegende apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
überwiegen
12 ch
überwiegende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: überwiegen is [ˌyːbɐˈviːɡn̩] while überwiegende is [ˈyːbɐˌviːɡn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “überwiegen” sits inside “überwiegende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überwiegen is recorded at frequency rank #16,069, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈviːɡn̩]. überwiegende is at rank #15,016, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbɐˌviːɡn̩də].

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 31085, this pair ranks #1,735,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überwiegen vs überwiegende

Shared letters: beginrwü. Private to "überwiegen": -. Private to "überwiegende": d.

"überwiegen" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC  ·  "überwiegende" · 12 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

überwiegen#16,069
überwiegende#15,016

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "überwiegen" and "überwiegende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "überwiegen" is a verb and "überwiegende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "überwiegen" or "überwiegende"?
"überwiegende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,016 in our German list, against #16,069 for "überwiegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering überwiegen vs überwiegende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “überwiegen”; for an adjective, it's “überwiegende”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “überwiegen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list