unterlegenevsunterlegenenTell them apart

Which to use

“unterlegene” and “unterlegenen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,358
“unterlegene” frequency rank
#42,211
“unterlegenen” frequency rank
88569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterlegene unterlegenen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterlegen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterlegen

Where the eye mixes unterlegene and unterlegenen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. unterlegene runs 11 letters (VCCVCCVCVCV) against unterlegenen's 12 (VCCVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
unterlegene
12 ch
unterlegenen

Why the eye confuses unterlegene with unterlegenen

A purely visual mix-up. unterlegene ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə]) and unterlegenen ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “unterlegene” sits inside “unterlegenen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterlegene is recorded at frequency rank #46,358, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə]. unterlegenen is at rank #42,211, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənən].

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 88569, this pair ranks #66,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of unterlegene vs unterlegenen

Shared letters: eglnrtu. Private to "unterlegene": -. Private to "unterlegenen": -.

"unterlegene" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV  ·  "unterlegenen" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterlegene ← nuterlegene · unetrlegene · unnterlegene · untelregene · unterelgene · unterleegne · unterlegeen · unterleggene
  • unterlegenen ← nuterlegenen · unetrlegenen · unnterlegenen · untelregenen · unterelgenen · unterleegnen · unterlegeenn · unterlegenenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unterlegene" for "unterlegenen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə] versus [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "unterlegene" or "unterlegenen" show up more?
"unterlegenen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,211 in our German list, against #46,358 for "unterlegene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "unterlegene" and "unterlegenen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterlegene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterlegenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterlegene" and "unterlegenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "untergebenen 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 #66,890 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list