Which to use
“unterste” is an adjective and “untersteht” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,431
- “unterste” frequency rank
- #32,331
- “untersteht” frequency rank
- 51762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unterste | untersteht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs unter- | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs unterstehen |
Where the eye mixes unterste and untersteht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. unterste runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against untersteht's 10 (VCCVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: unterste vs untersteht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unterste is [ˈʊntɐstə] while untersteht is [ˌʊntɐˈʃteːt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “unterste” sits inside “untersteht”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
unterste is recorded at frequency rank #19,431, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐstə]. untersteht is at rank #32,331, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈʃteːt].
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 51762, this pair ranks #1,122,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of unterste vs untersteht
Shared letters: enrstu. Private to "unterste": -. Private to "untersteht": h.
"unterste" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV · "untersteht" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- unterste ← nuterste · unetrste · unnterste · unterrste · unterset · untersste · unterstte · untertse
- untersteht ← nutersteht · unetrsteht · unntersteht · unterrsteht · untersetht · unterssteht · unterstehht · unterstehtt
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "unterste" and "untersteht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "unterste" or "untersteht" show up more?
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 "unterste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "untersteht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,122,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unterste" and "untersteht" 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 #1,122,991 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.