abbringenvsabzubringenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,278
“abbringen” frequency rank
#41,626
“abzubringen” frequency rank
67904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abbringen abzubringen
Definition etwas entfernen, lösen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs abbringen

Where the eye mixes abbringen and abzubringen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abbringen runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCVC) against abzubringen's 11 (VCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
abbringen
11 ch
abzubringen

Visual trap between abbringen and abzubringen

A purely visual mix-up. abbringen ([ˈapˌbʁɪŋən]) and abzubringen ([ˈapt͡suˌbʁɪŋən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abbringen is recorded at frequency rank #26,278, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌbʁɪŋən]. abzubringen is at rank #41,626, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌbʁɪŋən].

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 67904, this pair ranks #524,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abbringen vs abzubringen

Shared letters: abeginr. Private to "abbringen": -. Private to "abzubringen": uz.

"abbringen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "abzubringen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abbringen ← abbirngen · abbrignen · abbrinegn · abbringenn · abbringgen · abbringne · abbrinngen · abbrnigen
  • abzubringen ← abbzubringen · abuzbringen · abzburingen · abzubbringen · abzubirngen · abzubrignen · abzubrinegn · abzubringenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abbringen" and "abzubringen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌbʁɪŋən] versus [ˈapt͡suˌbʁɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abbringen" or "abzubringen" show up more?
"abbringen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,278 in our German list, against #41,626 for "abzubringen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abbringen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abzubringen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #524,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abbringen" and "abzubringen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzubringen vs aufzubringen". 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 #524,950 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