unterstellenvsunterstelltenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#15,773
“unterstellen” frequency rank
#36,691
“unterstellten” frequency rank
52464
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterstellen unterstellten
Definition jemandem die Verfügungsgewalt geben über etwas (Aufgaben, Personen, Institutionen, Militärverbände) Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs unterstellt

Where the eye mixes unterstellen and unterstellten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence.

12 ch
unterstellen
13 ch
unterstellten

Visual trap between unterstellen and unterstellten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unterstellen is [ˌʊntɐˈʃtɛlən] while unterstellten is [ˌʊntɐˈʃtɛltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterstellen is recorded at frequency rank #15,773, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈʃtɛlən]. unterstellten is at rank #36,691, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈʃtɛltn̩].

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 52464, this pair ranks #1,095,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unterstellen vs unterstellten

Shared letters: elnrstu. Private to "unterstellen": -. Private to "unterstellten": -.

"unterstellen" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "unterstellten" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterstellennuterstellen · unetrstellen · unnterstellen · unterrstellen · untersetllen · untersstellen · untersteleln · unterstelen
  • unterstelltennuterstellten · unetrstellten · unnterstellten · unterrstellten · untersetllten · untersstellten · unterstelletn · unterstelltenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unterstellen" for "unterstellten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unterstellen" is a verb and "unterstellten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "unterstellen" or "unterstellten" show up more?
"unterstellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,773 in our German list, against #36,691 for "unterstellten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "unterstellen" and "unterstellten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterstellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterstellten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,095,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterstellen" and "unterstellten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterstellte vs unterstellten". 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 #1,095,844 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