Which to use
“Abfahrten” is a noun and “anfahren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,492
- “Abfahrten” frequency rank
- #26,744
- “anfahren” frequency rank
- 61236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Abfahrten | anfahren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Abfahrt | losfahren, ein Fahrzeug starten, zu fahren beginnen |
Where the eye mixes Abfahrten and anfahren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Abfahrten vs anfahren
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abfahrten is [ˈapˌfaːɐ̯tn̩] while anfahren is [ˈanˌfaːʁən]. 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 61236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Abfahrten is recorded at frequency rank #34,492, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌfaːɐ̯tn̩]. anfahren is at rank #26,744, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfaːʁən].
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 61236, this pair ranks #757,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Abfahrten vs anfahren
Shared letters: aefhnr. Private to "Abfahrten": bt. Private to "anfahren": -.
"Abfahrten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "anfahren" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Abfahrten" for "anfahren" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Abfahrten" or "anfahren" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Abfahrten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anfahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #757,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Abfahrten" and "anfahren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abfahrten vs Ausfahrten". 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 #757,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.