Which to use
“abfeuern” and “anfeuern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,439
- “abfeuern” frequency rank
- #36,785
- “anfeuern” frequency rank
- 83224
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abfeuern | anfeuern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einer Waffe oder Ähnlichem einen Schuss abgeben | jemanden motivieren; jemanden durch Gesten (meist Zurufe/Klatschen) antreiben etwas erfolgreich zu beenden/durchzuführen |
Where the eye mixes abfeuern and anfeuern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abfeuern and anfeuern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abfeuern with anfeuern
A purely visual mix-up. abfeuern ([ˈapˌfɔɪ̯ɐn]) and anfeuern ([ˈanˌfɔɪ̯ɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - b in “abfeuern” becomes n in “anfeuern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abfeuern is recorded at frequency rank #46,439, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌfɔɪ̯ɐn]. anfeuern is at rank #36,785, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfɔɪ̯ɐn].
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 83224, this pair ranks #143,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abfeuern vs anfeuern
Shared letters: aefnru. Private to "abfeuern": b. Private to "anfeuern": -.
"abfeuern" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC · "anfeuern" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abfeuern" and "anfeuern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abfeuern" or "anfeuern" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abfeuern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anfeuern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abfeuern" and "anfeuern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abfeuern vs anheuern". 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 #143,509 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.