AbendenvsablenkenTell them apart

Quick tell: Abenden is a noun, ablenken is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Abenden” is a noun and “ablenken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,166
“Abenden” frequency rank
#12,014
“ablenken” frequency rank
39180
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abenden ablenken
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Abend die Aufmerksamkeit auf etwas anderes lenken

Where the eye mixes Abenden and ablenken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Abenden runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against ablenken's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Abenden
8 ch
ablenken

Why the eye confuses Abenden with ablenken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abenden is [ˈaːbn̩dən] while ablenken is [ˈapˌlɛŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abenden is recorded at frequency rank #27,166, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːbn̩dən]. ablenken is at rank #12,014, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlɛŋkn̩].

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 39180, this pair ranks #1,543,892 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Abenden vs ablenken

Shared letters: aben. Private to "Abenden": d. Private to "ablenken": kl.

"Abenden" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "ablenken" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abenden ← abbenden · abednen · abendden · abendenn · abendne · abenedn · abennden · abneden
  • ablenken ← abblenken · abelnken · ableknen · ablenekn · ablenkenn · ablenkken · ablenkne · ablennken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abenden" and "ablenken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Abenden" is a noun and "ablenken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Abenden" or "ablenken"?
"ablenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,014 in our German list, against #27,166 for "Abenden". 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 "Abenden" and "ablenken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ablenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,543,892 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abenden" and "ablenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abenden vs ahnden". 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 #1,543,892 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