abdrehenvsabtretenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#37,332
“abdrehen” frequency rank
#20,152
“abtreten” frequency rank
57484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abdrehen abtreten
Definition etwas mit einer drehenden Bewegung ablösen mit einem Tritt entfernen

Where the eye mixes abdrehen and abtreten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abdrehen and abtreten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
abdrehen
8 ch
abtreten

Look-alike desk: abdrehen vs abtreten

A purely visual mix-up. abdrehen ([ˈapˌdʁeːən]) and abtreten ([ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩]) 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 57484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abdrehen is recorded at frequency rank #37,332, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌdʁeːən]. abtreten is at rank #20,152, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩].

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 57484, this pair ranks #899,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abdrehen vs abtreten

Shared letters: abenr. Private to "abdrehen": dh. Private to "abtreten": t.

"abdrehen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "abtreten" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abdrehen ← abbdrehen · abddrehen · abderhen · abdreehn · abdrehenn · abdrehhen · abdrehne · abdrheen
  • abtreten ← abbtreten · abrteten · abterten · abtreetn · abtretenn · abtretne · abtretten · abtrreten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abdrehen" and "abtreten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌdʁeːən] versus [ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abdrehen" or "abtreten"?
"abtreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,152 in our German list, against #37,332 for "abdrehen". 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 "abdrehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abtreten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #899,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abdrehen" and "abtreten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abdrehen vs andrehen". 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 #899,541 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