Which to use
“untersagen” is a verb and “Untertanen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,829
- “untersagen” frequency rank
- #17,168
- “Untertanen” frequency rank
- 47997
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untersagen | Untertanen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Verbot aussprechen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Untertan |
Where the eye mixes untersagen and Untertanen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. untersagen and Untertanen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses untersagen with Untertanen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: untersagen is [ˌʊntɐˈzaːɡn̩] while Untertanen is [ˈʊntɐˌtaːnən]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
untersagen is recorded at frequency rank #30,829, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈzaːɡn̩]. Untertanen is at rank #17,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌtaːnən].
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 47997, this pair ranks #1,264,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of untersagen vs Untertanen
Shared letters: aenrtu. Private to "untersagen": gs. Private to "Untertanen": -.
"untersagen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "Untertanen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- untersagen ← nutersagen · unetrsagen · unntersagen · unterasgen · unterrsagen · untersaegn · untersagenn · untersaggen
- Untertanen ← nutertanen · unetrtanen · unntertanen · unteratnen · unterrtanen · untertaenn · untertanenn · untertanne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "untersagen" and "Untertanen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "untersagen" or "Untertanen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "untersagen" and "Untertanen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "untersagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Untertanen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,264,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untersagen" and "Untertanen" 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 #1,264,516 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.