UnterrichtvsunterrichteTell them apart

Quick tell: Unterricht is a noun, unterrichte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Unterricht” is a noun and “unterrichte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,270
“Unterricht” frequency rank
#34,957
“unterrichte” frequency rank
37227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Unterricht unterrichte
Definition regelmäßige und planvolle Weitergabe von Wissen, Information und Fähigkeiten von einem oder mehreren Lehrern an einen oder mehr Schüler 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs unterrichten

Where the eye mixes Unterricht and unterrichte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Unterricht runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCCC) against unterrichte's 11 (VCCVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Unterricht
11 ch
unterrichte

Visual trap between Unterricht and unterrichte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Unterricht is [ˈʊntɐˌʁɪçt] while unterrichte is [ˌʊntɐˈʁɪçtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Unterricht” sits inside “unterrichte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Unterricht is recorded at frequency rank #2,270, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʁɪçt]. unterrichte is at rank #34,957, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈʁɪçtə].

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 37227, this pair ranks #1,595,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Unterricht vs unterrichte

Shared letters: cehinrtu. Private to "Unterricht": -. Private to "unterrichte": -.

"Unterricht" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCC  ·  "unterrichte" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Unterrichtnuterricht · unetrricht · unnterricht · untericht · unterircht · unterrciht · unterriccht · unterrichht
  • unterrichtenuterrichte · unetrrichte · unnterrichte · unterichte · unterirchte · unterrcihte · unterricchte · unterrichet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Unterricht" for "unterrichte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Unterricht" is a noun and "unterrichte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Unterricht" or "unterrichte" show up more?
"Unterricht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,270 in our German list, against #34,957 for "unterrichte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Unterricht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterrichte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,595,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Unterricht" and "unterrichte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterbricht vs unterrichte". 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 #1,595,622 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