Which to use
“unterhielt” and “unterliegt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,415
- “unterhielt” frequency rank
- #8,470
- “unterliegt” frequency rank
- 26885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unterhielt | unterliegt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs unterhalten | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs unterliegen |
Where the eye mixes unterhielt and unterliegt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. unterhielt and unterliegt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between unterhielt and unterliegt
A purely visual mix-up. unterhielt ([ˌʊntɐˈhiːlt]) and unterliegt ([ˌʊntɐˈliːkt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
unterhielt is recorded at frequency rank #18,415, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈhiːlt]. unterliegt is at rank #8,470, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈliːkt].
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 26885, this pair ranks #1,810,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of unterhielt vs unterliegt
Shared letters: eilnrtu. Private to "unterhielt": h. Private to "unterliegt": g.
"unterhielt" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC · "unterliegt" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- unterhielt ← nuterhielt · unetrhielt · unnterhielt · untehrielt · unterheilt · unterhhielt · unterhiellt · unterhieltt
- unterliegt ← nuterliegt · unetrliegt · unnterliegt · untelriegt · unterilegt · unterleigt · unterlieggt · unterliegtt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "unterhielt" for "unterliegt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "unterhielt" or "unterliegt"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "unterhielt" and "unterliegt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "unterhielt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterliegt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,810,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unterhielt" and "unterliegt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterhielt vs unterhielten". 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 #1,810,810 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.