unerwünschtevsunerwünschtenTell them apart

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 eye mixes unerwünschte and unerwünschten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. unerwünschte runs 12 letters (VCVCCVCCCCCV) against unerwünschten's 13 (VCVCCVCCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
unerwünschte
13 ch
unerwünschten

Look-alike desk: unerwünschte vs unerwünschten

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

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.
In ordinary German text, does "unerwünschte" or "unerwünschten" show up more?
"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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "unerwünschte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unerwünschten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,250,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unerwünschte" and "unerwünschten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unerwünscht vs unerwünschten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,250,420 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