übrigvsÜbungWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: übrig is a adjective, Übung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“übrig” is an adjective and “Übung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,136
“übrig” frequency rank
#4,584
“Übung” frequency rank
6720
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature übrig Übung
Definition noch vorhanden, verbleibend, restlich Lerntechnik zur aktiven Aneignung einer bestimmten Fertigkeit, das praktische Üben

Where the eye mixes übrig and Übung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. übrig (VCCVC) and Übung (VCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
übrig
5 ch
Übung

Visual trap between übrig and Übung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: übrig is [ˈyːbʁɪç] while Übung is [ˈyːbʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

übrig is recorded at frequency rank #2,136, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbʁɪç]. Übung is at rank #4,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈyːbʊŋ].

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 6720, this pair ranks #1,990,664 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of übrig vs Übung

Shared letters: bgü. Private to "übrig": ir. Private to "Übung": nu.

"übrig" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Übung" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "übrig" for "Übung" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "übrig" is an adjective and "Übung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "übrig" or "Übung"?
"übrig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,136 in our German list, against #4,584 for "Übung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "übrig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Übung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,664 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "übrig" and "Übung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "übrig vs UrhG". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,990,664 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