Which to use
“Unterlagen” is a noun and “unterlegene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,855
- “Unterlagen” frequency rank
- #46,358
- “unterlegene” frequency rank
- 50213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Unterlagen | unterlegene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Unterlage | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterlegen |
Where the eye mixes Unterlagen and unterlegene
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Unterlagen runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against unterlegene's 11 (VCCVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Unterlagen and unterlegene
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Unterlagen is [ˈʊntɐlaːɡn̩] while unterlegene is [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50213, 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]. unterlegene is at rank #46,358, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə].
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 50213, this pair ranks #1,182,275 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Unterlagen vs unterlegene
Shared letters: eglnrtu. Private to "Unterlagen": a. Private to "unterlegene": -.
"Unterlagen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "unterlegene" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Unterlagen ← nuterlagen · unetrlagen · unnterlagen · untelragen · unteralgen · unterlaegn · unterlagenn · unterlaggen
- unterlegene ← nuterlegene · unetrlegene · unnterlegene · untelregene · unterelgene · unterleegne · unterlegeen · unterleggene
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Unterlagen" for "unterlegene" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Unterlagen" or "unterlegene" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Unterlagen" and "unterlegene" 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 "unterlegene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,182,275 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Unterlagen" and "unterlegene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterlegene vs unterlegenen". 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 #1,182,275 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.