Which to use
“Abend” is a noun and “abends” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #405
- “Abend” frequency rank
- #1,719
- “abends” frequency rank
- 2124
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Abend | abends |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Tageszeit nach dem Nachmittag, die beginnt, wenn die Sonne den Horizont erreicht, und bei völliger Dunkelheit endet; dem Abend geht der Tag voran und auf den Abend folgt die Nacht | am Abend, während des Abends |
Where the eye mixes Abend and abends
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Abend and abends
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abend is [ˈaːbn̩t] while abends is [ˈaːbn̩t͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Abend” sits inside “abends”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Abend is recorded at frequency rank #405, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːbn̩t]. abends is at rank #1,719, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈaːbn̩t͡s].
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 2124, this pair ranks #2,003,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Abend vs abends
Shared letters: abden. Private to "Abend": -. Private to "abends": s.
"Abend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "abends" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Abend" and "abends" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Abend" or "abends" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Abend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abends" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Abend" and "abends" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abend vs Aden". 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 #2,003,058 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.