unsrervsunterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: unsrer is a unknown, unter is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#40,268
“unsrer” frequency rank
#87
“unter” frequency rank
40355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unsrer unter
Definition Genitiv Singular Feminin des Possessivpronomens unser an einem tieferen Ort als

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unsrer and unter apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
unsrer
5 ch
unter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unsrer is [ˈʊnzʁɐ] while unter is [ˈʊntɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unsrer is recorded at frequency rank #40,268, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈʊnzʁɐ]. unter is at rank #87, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ˈʊntɐ].

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 40355, this pair ranks #1,510,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unsrer vs unter

Shared letters: enru. Private to "unsrer": s. Private to "unter": t.

"unsrer" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "unter" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unsrernusrer · unnsrer · unrser · unsrerr · unsrrer · unssrer · usnrer
  • unternuter · unetr · unnter · unterr · untre · untter · utner

Frequency comparison

unsrer#40,268
unter#87

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unsrer" and "unter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unsrer" is an unknown and "unter" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "unsrer" or "unter"?
"unter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #87 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 unsrer vs unter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “unsrer”; for a preposition, it's “unter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “unsrer” 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