AbflugvsAnflugWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,203
“Abflug” frequency rank
#19,811
“Anflug” frequency rank
37014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abflug Anflug
Definition die nach Flugplan vorgesehene Startzeit eines Luftfahrzeuges Landen eines Flugzeugs (oder Flugtieres)

Where the eye mixes Abflug and Anflug

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Abflug and Anflug follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Abflug
6 ch
Anflug

Visual trap between Abflug and Anflug

A purely visual mix-up. Abflug ([ˈapˌfluːk]) and Anflug ([ˈanˌfluːk]) 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 “Abflug” becomes n in “Anflug”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abflug is recorded at frequency rank #17,203, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌfluːk]. Anflug is at rank #19,811, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌfluːk].

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 37014, this pair ranks #1,600,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Abflug vs Anflug

Shared letters: afglu. Private to "Abflug": b. Private to "Anflug": n.

"Abflug" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "Anflug" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abflug ← abbflug · abfflug · abflgu · abfllug · abflugg · abfulg · ablfug · afblug
  • Anflug ← afnlug · anfflug · anflgu · anfllug · anflugg · anfulg · anlfug · annflug

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Abflug" and "Anflug" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌfluːk] versus [ˈanˌfluːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abflug" vs "Anflug" - which ranks higher?
"Abflug" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,203 in our German list, against #19,811 for "Anflug". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Abflug" and "Anflug" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abflug" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anflug" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,600,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abflug" and "Anflug" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abflug vs Abfluss". 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 #1,600,993 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