Which to use
“untere” and “unterer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,659
- “untere” frequency rank
- #28,896
- “unterer” frequency rank
- 34555
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untere | unterer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs unter- | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unter- |
Where the eye mixes untere and unterer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses untere with unterer
A purely visual mix-up. untere ([ˈʊntəʁə]) and unterer ([ˈʊntəʁɐ]) 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) - “untere” sits inside “unterer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
untere is recorded at frequency rank #5,659, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntəʁə]. unterer is at rank #28,896, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntəʁɐ].
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 34555, this pair ranks #1,660,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of untere vs unterer
Shared letters: enrtu. Private to "untere": -. Private to "unterer": -.
"untere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "unterer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "untere" for "unterer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "untere" or "unterer"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "untere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,660,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untere" and "unterer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterer vs unteres". 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 #1,660,604 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.