unserevsunsrerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: unsere is a determiner, unsrer is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“unsere” is a determiner and “unsrer” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#218
“unsere” frequency rank
#40,268
“unsrer” frequency rank
40486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unsere unsrer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum attributiv des Pronomens unser Genitiv Singular Feminin des Possessivpronomens unser

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unsere and unsrer apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
unsere
6 ch
unsrer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unsere is [ˈʊnzəʁə] while unsrer is [ˈʊnzʁɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unsere is recorded at frequency rank #218, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈʊnzəʁə]. unsrer is at rank #40,268, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈʊnzʁɐ].

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 40486, this pair ranks #1,507,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unsere vs unsrer

Shared letters: enrsu. Private to "unsere": -. Private to "unsrer": -.

"unsere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "unsrer" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unserenusere · unesre · unnsere · unseer · unserre · unsree · unssere · usnere
  • unsrernusrer · unnsrer · unrser · unsrerr · unsrrer · unssrer · usnrer

Frequency comparison

unsere#218
unsrer#40,268

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unsere" and "unsrer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unsere" is a determiner and "unsrer" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "unsere" or "unsrer"?
"unsere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #218 in our German list, against #40,268 for "unsrer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering unsere vs unsrer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “unsere”; for an unknown, it's “unsrer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “unsere” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list