UrteilenvsUrteilsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Urteilen” and “Urteils” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,472
“Urteilen” frequency rank
#20,445
“Urteils” frequency rank
28917
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Urteilen Urteils
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Urteil Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Urteil

Where the eye mixes Urteilen and Urteils

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Urteilen runs 8 letters (VCCVVCVC) against Urteils's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Urteilen
7 ch
Urteils

Why the eye confuses Urteilen with Urteils

A purely visual mix-up. Urteilen ([ˈʊʁtaɪ̯lən]) and Urteils ([ˈʊʁtaɪ̯ls]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Urteilen is recorded at frequency rank #8,472, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊʁtaɪ̯lən]. Urteils is at rank #20,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊʁtaɪ̯ls].

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 28917, this pair ranks #1,776,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Urteilen vs Urteils

Shared letters: eilrtu. Private to "Urteilen": n. Private to "Urteils": s.

"Urteilen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "Urteils" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Urteilen ← ruteilen · uretilen · urrteilen · urteieln · urteilenn · urteillen · urteilne · urtelien
  • Urteils ← ruteils · uretils · urrteils · urteills · urteilss · urteisl · urtelis · urtiels

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Urteilen" for "Urteils" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊʁtaɪ̯lən] versus [ˈʊʁtaɪ̯ls]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Urteilen" or "Urteils"?
"Urteilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,472 in our German list, against #20,445 for "Urteils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Urteilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Urteils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,776,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Urteilen" and "Urteils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Urteils vs urteilte". 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 #1,776,261 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