Which to use
“Unterlagen” is a noun and “untersagen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,855
- “Unterlagen” frequency rank
- #30,829
- “untersagen” frequency rank
- 34684
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Unterlagen | untersagen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Unterlage | ein Verbot aussprechen |
Where the eye mixes Unterlagen and untersagen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Unterlagen and untersagen 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 untersagen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Unterlagen is [ˈʊntɐlaːɡn̩] while untersagen is [ˌʊntɐˈzaːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Unterlagen” becomes s in “untersagen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34684, 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]. untersagen is at rank #30,829, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈzaːɡn̩].
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 34684, this pair ranks #1,657,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Unterlagen vs untersagen
Shared letters: aegnrtu. Private to "Unterlagen": l. Private to "untersagen": s.
"Unterlagen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "untersagen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Unterlagen ← nuterlagen · unetrlagen · unnterlagen · untelragen · unteralgen · unterlaegn · unterlagenn · unterlaggen
- untersagen ← nutersagen · unetrsagen · unntersagen · unterasgen · unterrsagen · untersaegn · untersagenn · untersaggen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Unterlagen" for "untersagen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Unterlagen" or "untersagen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Unterlagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "untersagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,657,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Unterlagen" and "untersagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "untersagen 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 #1,657,708 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.