Which to use
“untergehen” is a verb and “unterlegen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,967
- “untergehen” frequency rank
- #16,309
- “unterlegen” frequency rank
- 30276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untergehen | unterlegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | versinken, unter oder in etwas verschwinden; nicht mehr hörbar sein, weil durch andere Geräusche oder Lärm übertönt | im direkten Vergleich schlechter dastehend |
Where the eye mixes untergehen and unterlegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. untergehen and unterlegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses untergehen with unterlegen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: untergehen is [ˈʊntɐˌɡeːən] while unterlegen is [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
untergehen is recorded at frequency rank #13,967, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌɡeːən]. unterlegen is at rank #16,309, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩].
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 30276, this pair ranks #1,751,023 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of untergehen vs unterlegen
Shared letters: egnrtu. Private to "untergehen": h. Private to "unterlegen": l.
"untergehen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "unterlegen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- untergehen ← nutergehen · unetrgehen · unntergehen · untegrehen · untereghen · untergeehn · untergehenn · untergehhen
- unterlegen ← nuterlegen · unetrlegen · unnterlegen · untelregen · unterelgen · unterleegn · unterlegenn · unterleggen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "untergehen" and "unterlegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "untergehen" or "unterlegen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "untergehen" and "unterlegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "untergehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterlegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,751,023 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untergehen" and "unterlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterlegen vs unterlegene". 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 #1,751,023 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.