Which to use
“Unterlage” is a noun and “unterlegt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,384
- “Unterlage” frequency rank
- #28,898
- “unterlegt” frequency rank
- 58282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Unterlage | unterlegt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unter etwas liegender Gegenstand oder Schicht (Schichte) als Schutz, Stärkung oder Höhenausgleich | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs unterlegen |
Where the eye mixes Unterlage and unterlegt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Unterlage (VCCVCCVCV) and unterlegt (VCCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Unterlage and unterlegt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Unterlage is [ˈʊntɐˌlaːɡə] while unterlegt is [ˌʊntɐˈleːkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Unterlage is recorded at frequency rank #29,384, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌlaːɡə]. unterlegt is at rank #28,898, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːkt].
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 58282, this pair ranks #868,824 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Unterlage vs unterlegt
Shared letters: eglnrtu. Private to "Unterlage": a. Private to "unterlegt": -.
"Unterlage" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "unterlegt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Unterlage" and "unterlegt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Unterlage" vs "unterlegt" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Unterlage" and "unterlegt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Unterlage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterlegt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #868,824 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Unterlage" and "unterlegt" 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 #868,824 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.