unterkommenvsunternommenConfusable pair

Which to use

“unterkommen” and “unternommen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,688
“unterkommen” frequency rank
#7,999
“unternommen” frequency rank
44687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterkommen unternommen
Definition seinen beruflichen Platz finden Partizip Perfekt des Verbs unternehmen

Where the eye mixes unterkommen and unternommen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. unterkommen and unternommen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
unterkommen
11 ch
unternommen

Why the eye confuses unterkommen with unternommen

A purely visual mix-up. unterkommen ([ˈʊntɐˌkɔmən]) and unternommen ([ˌʊntɐˈnɔmən]) 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 a single letter - k in “unterkommen” becomes n in “unternommen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterkommen is recorded at frequency rank #36,688, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌkɔmən]. unternommen is at rank #7,999, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈnɔmən].

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 44687, this pair ranks #1,378,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unterkommen vs unternommen

Shared letters: emnortu. Private to "unterkommen": k. Private to "unternommen": -.

"unterkommen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC  ·  "unternommen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterkommen ← nuterkommen · unetrkommen · unnterkommen · untekrommen · unterkkommen · unterkmomen · unterkomemn · unterkomen
  • unternommen ← nuternommen · unetrnommen · unnternommen · untenrommen · unternmomen · unternnommen · unternomemn · unternomen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unterkommen" for "unternommen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌkɔmən] versus [ˌʊntɐˈnɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "unterkommen" or "unternommen" show up more?
"unternommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,999 in our German list, against #36,688 for "unterkommen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "unterkommen" and "unternommen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterkommen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unternommen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,378,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterkommen" and "unternommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "untergekommen vs unterkommen". 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 #1,378,067 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list