Which to use
“Unterhalt” is a noun and “unterhalte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,192
- “Unterhalt” frequency rank
- #32,330
- “unterhalte” frequency rank
- 42522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Unterhalt | unterhalte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | materielle Absicherung für Personen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs unterhalten |
Where the eye mixes Unterhalt and unterhalte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Unterhalt runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against unterhalte's 10 (VCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Unterhalt vs unterhalte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Unterhalt is [ˈʊntɐˌhalt] while unterhalte is [ˌʊntɐˈhaltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Unterhalt” sits inside “unterhalte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Unterhalt is recorded at frequency rank #10,192, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌhalt]. unterhalte is at rank #32,330, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈhaltə].
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 42522, this pair ranks #1,446,701 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Unterhalt vs unterhalte
Shared letters: aehlnrtu. Private to "Unterhalt": -. Private to "unterhalte": -.
"Unterhalt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC · "unterhalte" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Unterhalt ← nuterhalt · unetrhalt · unnterhalt · untehralt · unterahlt · unterhallt · unterhaltt · unterhatl
- unterhalte ← nuterhalte · unetrhalte · unnterhalte · untehralte · unterahlte · unterhalet · unterhallte · unterhaltte
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Unterhalt" and "unterhalte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Unterhalt" vs "unterhalte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Unterhalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterhalte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,446,701 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Unterhalt" and "unterhalte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterhalte vs untersagte". 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 #1,446,701 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.