unerlaubtvsunerlaubteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,681
“unerlaubt” frequency rank
#35,505
“unerlaubte” frequency rank
72186
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unerlaubt unerlaubte
Definition ohne Erlaubnis Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unerlaubt

Where the eye mixes unerlaubt and unerlaubte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. unerlaubt runs 9 letters (VCVCCVVCC) against unerlaubte's 10 (VCVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
unerlaubt
10 ch
unerlaubte

Look-alike desk: unerlaubt vs unerlaubte

A purely visual mix-up. unerlaubt ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯pt]) and unerlaubte ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptə]) 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) - “unerlaubt” sits inside “unerlaubte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unerlaubt is recorded at frequency rank #36,681, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯pt]. unerlaubte is at rank #35,505, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptə].

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 72186, this pair ranks #395,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of unerlaubt vs unerlaubte

Shared letters: abelnrtu. Private to "unerlaubt": -. Private to "unerlaubte": -.

"unerlaubt" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVVCC  ·  "unerlaubte" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unerlaubt ← nuerlaubt · uenrlaubt · unelraubt · uneralubt · unerlabut · unerlaubbt · unerlaubtt · unerlautb
  • unerlaubte ← nuerlaubte · uenrlaubte · unelraubte · uneralubte · unerlabute · unerlaubbte · unerlaubet · unerlaubtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "unerlaubt" and "unerlaubte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯pt] versus [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "unerlaubt" or "unerlaubte"?
"unerlaubte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,505 in our German list, against #36,681 for "unerlaubt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "unerlaubt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unerlaubte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #395,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unerlaubt" and "unerlaubte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unerlaubt vs unerlaubten". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #395,359 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