Which to use
“unterlag” is a verb and “Unterlage” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,761
- “unterlag” frequency rank
- #29,384
- “Unterlage” frequency rank
- 40145
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unterlag | Unterlage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs unterliegen | unter etwas liegender Gegenstand oder Schicht (Schichte) als Schutz, Stärkung oder Höhenausgleich |
Where the eye mixes unterlag and Unterlage
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. unterlag runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against Unterlage's 9 (VCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: unterlag vs Unterlage
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unterlag is [ˌʊntɐˈlaːk] while Unterlage is [ˈʊntɐˌlaːɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “unterlag” sits inside “Unterlage”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
unterlag is recorded at frequency rank #10,761, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈlaːk]. Unterlage is at rank #29,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌlaːɡə].
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 40145, this pair ranks #1,516,827 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of unterlag vs Unterlage
Shared letters: aeglnrtu. Private to "unterlag": -. Private to "Unterlage": -.
"unterlag" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "Unterlage" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "unterlag" and "Unterlage" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "unterlag" vs "Unterlage" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "unterlag" and "Unterlage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "unterlag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Unterlage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,516,827 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unterlag" and "Unterlage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Unterlage 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 #1,516,827 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.