überwindenvsüberwinternTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,135
“überwinden” frequency rank
#32,390
“überwintern” frequency rank
38525
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überwinden überwintern
Definition mit etwas Schwierigem fertig werden den Winter an einem bestimmten Ort verbringen

Where the eye mixes überwinden and überwintern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
überwinden
11 ch
überwintern

Visual trap between überwinden and überwintern

A purely visual mix-up. überwinden ([yːbɐˈvɪndn̩]) and überwintern ([yːbɐˈvɪntɐn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überwinden is recorded at frequency rank #6,135, classified as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈvɪndn̩]. überwintern is at rank #32,390, tagged as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈvɪntɐn].

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 38525, this pair ranks #1,561,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überwinden vs überwintern

Shared letters: beinrwü. Private to "überwinden": d. Private to "überwintern": t.

"überwinden" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC  ·  "überwintern" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überwinden" for "überwintern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([yːbɐˈvɪndn̩] versus [yːbɐˈvɪntɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "überwinden" or "überwintern"?
"überwinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,135 in our German list, against #32,390 for "überwintern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "überwinden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überwintern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,561,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überwinden" and "überwintern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Überlingen vs überwinden". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,561,665 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