abbrechenvsabsprechenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,405
“abbrechen” frequency rank
#21,509
“absprechen” frequency rank
31914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abbrechen absprechen
Definition durch Krafteinwirkung einen Teil vom Ganzen trennen, teilen etwas auf Grundlage eines Urteils (zum Beispiel eines Gerichtsurteils) aberkennen

Where the eye mixes abbrechen and absprechen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abbrechen runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCVC) against absprechen's 10 (VCCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
abbrechen
10 ch
absprechen

Why the eye confuses abbrechen with absprechen

A purely visual mix-up. abbrechen ([ˈapˌbʁɛçn̩]) and absprechen ([ˈapˌʃpʁɛçn̩]) 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 31914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abbrechen is recorded at frequency rank #10,405, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌbʁɛçn̩]. absprechen is at rank #21,509, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃpʁɛçn̩].

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 31914, this pair ranks #1,718,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abbrechen vs absprechen

Shared letters: abcehnr. Private to "abbrechen": -. Private to "absprechen": ps.

"abbrechen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "absprechen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abbrechen ← abberchen · abbrcehen · abbrecchen · abbrecehn · abbrechenn · abbrechhen · abbrechne · abbrehcen
  • absprechen ← abbsprechen · abpsrechen · absperchen · abspprechen · absprcehen · absprecchen · absprecehn · absprechenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abbrechen" and "absprechen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌbʁɛçn̩] versus [ˈapˌʃpʁɛçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abbrechen" vs "absprechen" - which ranks higher?
"abbrechen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,405 in our German list, against #21,509 for "absprechen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "abbrechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "absprechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,718,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abbrechen" and "absprechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "absprechen vs abzusprechen". 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 #1,718,491 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