unerwünschtevsunerwünschtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,181
“unerwünschte” frequency rank
#26,205
“unerwünschten” frequency rank
48386
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unerwünschte unerwünschten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unerwünscht Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unerwünscht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unerwünschte and unerwünschten apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
unerwünschte
13 ch
unerwünschten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. unerwünschte ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “unerwünschte” sits inside “unerwünschten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48386, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unerwünschte is recorded at frequency rank #22,181, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtə]. 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 48386, this pair ranks #1,250,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unerwünschte vs unerwünschten

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

"unerwünschte" · 12 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCCV  ·  "unerwünschten" · 13 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCCCVC

Frequency comparison

unerwünschte#22,181
unerwünschten#26,205

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unerwünschte" and "unerwünschten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtə] versus [ˈʊnʔɛɐ̯ˌvʏnʃtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "unerwünschte" or "unerwünschten"?
"unerwünschte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,181 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 unerwünschte 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 “unerwünschte” 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