übrigenvsumbringenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: übrigen is a adjective, umbringen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,186
“übrigen” frequency rank
#8,642
“umbringen” frequency rank
10828
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature übrigen umbringen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs übrig jemanden töten, jemanden ums Leben bringen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set übrigen and umbringen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
übrigen
9 ch
umbringen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: übrigen is [ˈyːbʁɪɡn̩] while umbringen is [ˈʊmˌbʁɪŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

übrigen is recorded at frequency rank #2,186, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbʁɪɡn̩]. umbringen is at rank #8,642, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʊmˌbʁɪŋən].

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 10828, this pair ranks #1,973,111 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of übrigen vs umbringen

Shared letters: beginr. Private to "übrigen": ü. Private to "umbringen": mu.

"übrigen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "umbringen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • umbringenmubringen · ubmringen · umbbringen · umbirngen · umbrignen · umbrinegn · umbringenn · umbringgen

Frequency comparison

übrigen#2,186
umbringen#8,642

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "übrigen" and "umbringen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "übrigen" is an adjective and "umbringen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "übrigen" or "umbringen"?
"übrigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,186 in our German list, against #8,642 for "umbringen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering übrigen vs umbringen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “übrigen”; for a verb, it's “umbringen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “übrigen” 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