Which to use
“untergehen” and “unterziehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,967
- “untergehen” frequency rank
- #15,501
- “unterziehen” frequency rank
- 29468
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untergehen | unterziehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | versinken, unter oder in etwas verschwinden; nicht mehr hörbar sein, weil durch andere Geräusche oder Lärm übertönt | eine (notwendige aber unangenehme oder gefährliche) Maßnahme an oder mit sich durchführen lassen |
Where the eye mixes untergehen and unterziehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. untergehen runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against unterziehen's 11 (VCCVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses untergehen with unterziehen
A purely visual mix-up. untergehen ([ˈʊntɐˌɡeːən]) and unterziehen ([ˌʊntɐˈt͡siːən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29468, 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]. unterziehen is at rank #15,501, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈt͡siːən].
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 29468, this pair ranks #1,766,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of untergehen vs unterziehen
Shared letters: ehnrtu. Private to "untergehen": g. Private to "unterziehen": iz.
"untergehen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "unterziehen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- untergehen ← nutergehen · unetrgehen · unntergehen · untegrehen · untereghen · untergeehn · untergehenn · untergehhen
- unterziehen ← nuterziehen · unetrziehen · unnterziehen · unterizehen · unterrziehen · unterzeihen · unterzieehn · unterziehenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "untergehen" and "unterziehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "untergehen" or "unterziehen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "untergehen" and "unterziehen" 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 "unterziehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,766,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untergehen" and "unterziehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterstehen vs unterziehen". 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 #1,766,263 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.