Which to use
“unters” is an abbrev and “unterste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,027
- “unters” frequency rank
- #19,431
- “unterste” frequency rank
- 35458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unters | unterste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unter das | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs unter- |
Where the eye mixes unters and unterste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. unters runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against unterste's 8 (VCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: unters vs unterste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unters is [ˈʊntɐs] while unterste is [ˈʊntɐstə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “unters” sits inside “unterste”, and the parts of speech differ too (abbrev vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
unters is recorded at frequency rank #16,027, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ˈʊntɐs]. unterste is at rank #19,431, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐstə].
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 35458, this pair ranks #1,639,493 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of unters vs unterste
Shared letters: enrstu. Private to "unters": -. Private to "unterste": -.
"unters" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "unterste" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "unters" and "unterste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "unters" vs "unterste" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "unters" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unterste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,639,493 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unters" and "unterste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "untersagte vs unterste". 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 #1,639,493 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.