umgekehrtvsumgekehrteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,493
“umgekehrt” frequency rank
#30,337
“umgekehrte” frequency rank
33830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature umgekehrt umgekehrte
Definition (unerwartet) das Gegenteil bildend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs umgekehrt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set umgekehrt and umgekehrte apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
umgekehrt
10 ch
umgekehrte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. umgekehrt ([ˈʊmɡəˌkeːɐ̯t]) and umgekehrte ([ˈʊmɡəˌkeːɐ̯tə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “umgekehrt” sits inside “umgekehrte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

umgekehrt is recorded at frequency rank #3,493, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊmɡəˌkeːɐ̯t]. umgekehrte is at rank #30,337, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊmɡəˌkeːɐ̯tə].

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 33830, this pair ranks #1,677,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of umgekehrt vs umgekehrte

Shared letters: eghkmrtu. Private to "umgekehrt": -. Private to "umgekehrte": -.

"umgekehrt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC  ·  "umgekehrte" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • umgekehrtmugekehrt · ugmekehrt · umegkehrt · umgeekhrt · umgekehhrt · umgekehrrt · umgekehrtt · umgekehtr
  • umgekehrtemugekehrte · ugmekehrte · umegkehrte · umgeekhrte · umgekehhrte · umgekehret · umgekehrrte · umgekehrtte

Frequency comparison

umgekehrt#3,493
umgekehrte#30,337

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "umgekehrt" and "umgekehrte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊmɡəˌkeːɐ̯t] versus [ˈʊmɡəˌkeːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "umgekehrt" or "umgekehrte"?
"umgekehrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,493 in our German list, against #30,337 for "umgekehrte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering umgekehrt vs umgekehrte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “umgekehrt” 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