Which to use
“untersagt” is a verb and “untersagte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,804
- “untersagt” frequency rank
- #48,580
- “untersagte” frequency rank
- 57384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untersagt | untersagte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs untersagen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs untersagt |
Where the eye mixes untersagt and untersagte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. untersagt runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against untersagte's 10 (VCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between untersagt and untersagte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: untersagt is [ˌʊntɐˈzaːkt] while untersagte is [ˌʊntɐˈzaːktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “untersagt” sits inside “untersagte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
untersagt is recorded at frequency rank #8,804, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈzaːkt]. untersagte is at rank #48,580, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈzaːktə].
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 57384, this pair ranks #903,441 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of untersagt vs untersagte
Shared letters: aegnrstu. Private to "untersagt": -. Private to "untersagte": -.
"untersagt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC · "untersagte" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- untersagt ← nutersagt · unetrsagt · unntersagt · unterasgt · unterrsagt · untersaggt · untersagtt · untersatg
- untersagte ← nutersagte · unetrsagte · unntersagte · unterasgte · unterrsagte · untersaget · untersaggte · untersagtte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "untersagt" and "untersagte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "untersagt" or "untersagte" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "untersagt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "untersagte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #903,441 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untersagt" and "untersagte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterhalte 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 #903,441 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.