unterrichtenvsuntersuchtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: unterrichten is a verb, untersuchten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“unterrichten” is a verb and “untersuchten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,471
“unterrichten” frequency rank
#13,504
“untersuchten” frequency rank
21975
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterrichten untersuchten
Definition jemandem etwas beibringen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs untersucht

Where the eye mixes unterrichten and untersuchten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. unterrichten and untersuchten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
unterrichten
12 ch
untersuchten

Look-alike desk: unterrichten vs untersuchten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unterrichten is [ˌʊntɐˈʁɪçtn̩] while untersuchten is [ʊntɐˈzuːxtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterrichten is recorded at frequency rank #8,471, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈʁɪçtn̩]. untersuchten is at rank #13,504, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʊntɐˈzuːxtn̩].

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 21975, this pair ranks #1,879,884 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of unterrichten vs untersuchten

Shared letters: cehnrtu. Private to "unterrichten": i. Private to "untersuchten": s.

"unterrichten" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCCVC  ·  "untersuchten" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterrichtennuterrichten · unetrrichten · unnterrichten · unterichten · unterirchten · unterrcihten · unterricchten · unterrichetn
  • untersuchtennutersuchten · unetrsuchten · unntersuchten · unterrsuchten · unterscuhten · unterssuchten · untersucchten · untersuchetn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "unterrichten" and "untersuchten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unterrichten" is a verb and "untersuchten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "unterrichten" or "untersuchten"?
"unterrichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,471 in our German list, against #13,504 for "untersuchten". 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 "unterrichten" and "untersuchten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterrichten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "untersuchten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,879,884 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterrichten" and "untersuchten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterrichten vs Unterrichtung". 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 #1,879,884 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