unerwünschtvsunerwünschtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,742
“unerwünscht” frequency rank
#26,205
“unerwünschten” frequency rank
45947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unerwünscht unerwünschten
Definition nicht gewollt, nicht willkommen, entbehrlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unerwünscht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unerwünscht and unerwünschten apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
unerwünscht
13 ch
unerwünschten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. unerwünscht ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃt]) and unerwünschten ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “unerwünscht” sits inside “unerwünschten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unerwünscht is recorded at frequency rank #19,742, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃt]. unerwünschten is at rank #26,205, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtn̩].

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 45947, this pair ranks #1,335,768 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unerwünscht vs unerwünschten

Shared letters: cehnrstuwü. Private to "unerwünscht": -. Private to "unerwünschten": -.

"unerwünscht" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCC  ·  "unerwünschten" · 13 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCCVC

Frequency comparison

unerwünscht#19,742
unerwünschten#26,205

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unerwünscht" and "unerwünschten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃt] versus [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "unerwünscht" or "unerwünschten"?
"unerwünscht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,742 in our German list, against #26,205 for "unerwünschten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering unerwünscht vs unerwünschten

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 “unerwünscht” 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