AbdeckungvsAblenkungTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,864
“Abdeckung” frequency rank
#11,802
“Ablenkung” frequency rank
33666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abdeckung Ablenkung
Definition Gegenstand, der dazu verwendet wird, etwas abzudecken Abweichung von einer Richtung

Where the eye mixes Abdeckung and Ablenkung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Abdeckung and Ablenkung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Abdeckung
9 ch
Ablenkung

Look-alike desk: Abdeckung vs Ablenkung

A purely visual mix-up. Abdeckung ([ˈapˌdɛkʊŋ]) and Ablenkung ([ˈapˌlɛŋkʊŋ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abdeckung is recorded at frequency rank #21,864, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌdɛkʊŋ]. Ablenkung is at rank #11,802, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌlɛŋkʊŋ].

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 33666, this pair ranks #1,680,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Abdeckung vs Ablenkung

Shared letters: abegknu. Private to "Abdeckung": cd. Private to "Ablenkung": l.

"Abdeckung" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "Ablenkung" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abdeckung ← abbdeckung · abdcekung · abddeckung · abdecckung · abdeckkung · abdecknug · abdeckugn · abdeckungg
  • Ablenkung ← abblenkung · abelnkung · ableknung · ablenkkung · ablenknug · ablenkugn · ablenkungg · ablenkunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Abdeckung" and "Ablenkung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌdɛkʊŋ] versus [ˈapˌlɛŋkʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Abdeckung" or "Ablenkung" show up more?
"Ablenkung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,802 in our German list, against #21,864 for "Abdeckung". 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 "Abdeckung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ablenkung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,680,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abdeckung" and "Ablenkung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abdankung vs Abdeckung". 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 #1,680,745 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