unerlaubtevsunerlaubtenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,505
“unerlaubte” frequency rank
#39,682
“unerlaubten” frequency rank
75187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unerlaubte unerlaubten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unerlaubt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unerlaubt

Where the eye mixes unerlaubte and unerlaubten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. unerlaubte runs 10 letters (VCVCCVVCCV) against unerlaubten's 11 (VCVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
unerlaubte
11 ch
unerlaubten

Why the eye confuses unerlaubte with unerlaubten

A purely visual mix-up. unerlaubte ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptə]) and unerlaubten ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptn̩]) 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) - “unerlaubte” sits inside “unerlaubten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unerlaubte is recorded at frequency rank #35,505, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptə]. unerlaubten is at rank #39,682, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptn̩].

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 75187, this pair ranks #314,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of unerlaubte vs unerlaubten

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

"unerlaubte" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCCV  ·  "unerlaubten" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unerlaubte ← nuerlaubte · uenrlaubte · unelraubte · uneralubte · unerlabute · unerlaubbte · unerlaubet · unerlaubtte
  • unerlaubten ← nuerlaubten · uenrlaubten · unelraubten · uneralubten · unerlabuten · unerlaubbten · unerlaubetn · unerlaubtenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "unerlaubte" and "unerlaubten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptə] versus [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌlaʊ̯ptn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "unerlaubte" or "unerlaubten" show up more?
"unerlaubte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,505 in our German list, against #39,682 for "unerlaubten". 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 "unerlaubte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unerlaubten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #314,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unerlaubte" and "unerlaubten" 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 #314,259 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