überwindenvsüberwundenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,135
“überwinden” frequency rank
#10,602
“überwunden” frequency rank
16737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überwinden überwunden
Definition mit etwas Schwierigem fertig werden Partizip Perfekt des Verbs überwinden

Where the eye mixes überwinden and überwunden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. überwinden and überwunden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
überwinden
10 ch
überwunden

Why the eye confuses überwinden with überwunden

A purely visual mix-up. überwinden ([yːbɐˈvɪndn̩]) and überwunden ([yːbɐˈvʊndn̩]) 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 a single letter - i in “überwinden” becomes u in “überwunden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16737, 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]. überwunden is at rank #10,602, tagged as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈvʊndn̩].

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 16737, this pair ranks #1,933,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überwinden vs überwunden

Shared letters: bdenrwü. Private to "überwinden": i. Private to "überwunden": u.

"überwinden" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC  ·  "überwunden" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "überwinden" and "überwunden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([yːbɐˈvɪndn̩] versus [yːbɐˈvʊndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "überwinden" vs "überwunden" - which ranks higher?
"überwinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,135 in our German list, against #10,602 for "überwunden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "überwinden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überwunden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,933,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überwinden" and "überwunden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Überlingen vs überwinden". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,933,390 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