Which to use
“unrein” is an adjective and “untern” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,999
- “unrein” frequency rank
- #38,474
- “untern” frequency rank
- 83473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unrein | untern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht sauber, also in gewisser Weise verunreinigt, verschmutzt | unter den |
Where the eye mixes unrein and untern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. unrein (VCCVVC) and untern (VCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: unrein vs untern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unrein is [ˈʊnˌʁaɪ̯n] while untern is [ˈʊntɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
unrein is recorded at frequency rank #44,999, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnˌʁaɪ̯n]. untern is at rank #38,474, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ˈʊntɐn].
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 83473, this pair ranks #139,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of unrein vs untern
Shared letters: enru. Private to "unrein": i. Private to "untern": t.
"unrein" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "untern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "unrein" for "untern" ever safe?
Which is more common, "unrein" or "untern"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "unrein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "untern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unrein" and "untern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unrein vs Unzen". 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 #139,356 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.