überwindetvsüberwundenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,272
“überwindet” frequency rank
#10,602
“überwunden” frequency rank
36874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überwindet überwunden
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs überwinden Partizip Perfekt des Verbs überwinden

Where the eye mixes überwindet and überwunden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. überwindet 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
überwindet
10 ch
überwunden

Look-alike desk: überwindet vs überwunden

A purely visual mix-up. überwindet ([yːbɐˈvɪndət]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überwindet is recorded at frequency rank #26,272, classified as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈvɪndət]. 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 36874, this pair ranks #1,604,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überwindet vs überwunden

Shared letters: bdenrwü. Private to "überwindet": it. Private to "überwunden": u.

"überwindet" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC  ·  "überwunden" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überwindet" for "überwunden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([yːbɐˈvɪndət] versus [yːbɐˈvʊndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "überwindet" or "überwunden" show up more?
"überwunden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,602 in our German list, against #26,272 for "überwindet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "überwindet" 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 #1,604,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überwindet" and "überwunden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überwinden vs überwindet". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,604,528 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