Which to use
“untersuchte” and “untersuchten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,258
- “untersuchte” frequency rank
- #13,504
- “untersuchten” frequency rank
- 26762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untersuchte | untersuchten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs untersucht | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs untersucht |
Where the eye mixes untersuchte and untersuchten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. untersuchte runs 11 letters (VCCVCCVCCCV) against untersuchten's 12 (VCCVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses untersuchte with untersuchten
A purely visual mix-up. untersuchte ([ˌʊntɐˈzuːxtə]) and untersuchten ([ʊntɐˈzuːxtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “untersuchte” sits inside “untersuchten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
untersuchte is recorded at frequency rank #13,258, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈzuːxtə]. untersuchten is at rank #13,504, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʊntɐˈzuːxtn̩].
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 26762, this pair ranks #1,812,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of untersuchte vs untersuchten
Shared letters: cehnrstu. Private to "untersuchte": -. Private to "untersuchten": -.
"untersuchte" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCCV · "untersuchten" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- untersuchte ← nutersuchte · unetrsuchte · unntersuchte · unterrsuchte · unterscuhte · unterssuchte · untersucchte · untersuchet
- untersuchten ← nutersuchten · unetrsuchten · unntersuchten · unterrsuchten · unterscuhten · unterssuchten · untersucchten · untersuchetn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "untersuchte" for "untersuchten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "untersuchte" vs "untersuchten" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "untersuchte" and "untersuchten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "untersuchte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "untersuchten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,812,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untersuchte" and "untersuchten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterrichte vs untersuchte". 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 #1,812,809 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.