Which to use
“Unterlagen” is a noun and “unterlegen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,855
- “Unterlagen” frequency rank
- #16,309
- “unterlegen” frequency rank
- 20164
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Unterlagen | unterlegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Unterlage | im direkten Vergleich schlechter dastehend |
Where the eye mixes Unterlagen and unterlegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Unterlagen and unterlegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: Unterlagen vs unterlegen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Unterlagen is [ˈʊntɐlaːɡn̩] while unterlegen is [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “Unterlagen” becomes e in “unterlegen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Unterlagen is recorded at frequency rank #3,855, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐlaːɡn̩]. unterlegen is at rank #16,309, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩].
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 20164, this pair ranks #1,900,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Unterlagen vs unterlegen
Shared letters: eglnrtu. Private to "Unterlagen": a. Private to "unterlegen": -.
"Unterlagen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "unterlegen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Unterlagen ← nuterlagen · unetrlagen · unnterlagen · untelragen · unteralgen · unterlaegn · unterlagenn · unterlaggen
- unterlegen ← nuterlegen · unetrlegen · unnterlegen · untelregen · unterelgen · unterleegn · unterlegenn · unterleggen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Unterlagen" and "unterlegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Unterlagen" vs "unterlegen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Unterlagen" and "unterlegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Unterlagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterlegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,900,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Unterlagen" and "unterlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterlegen vs unterlegene". 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 #1,900,574 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.