AbfragevsAblageTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,893
“Abfrage” frequency rank
#31,916
“Ablage” frequency rank
64809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abfrage Ablage
Definition Auswahl von Informationen aus einem elektronisch gespeicherten Datenbestand ein offenes Behältnis (oder auch dafür bestimmter Ort), das dazu dient, Dinge (meist: Papier) hineinzulegen

Where the eye mixes Abfrage and Ablage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Abfrage runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against Ablage's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Abfrage
6 ch
Ablage

Why the eye confuses Abfrage with Ablage

A purely visual mix-up. Abfrage ([ˈapˌfʁaːɡə]) and Ablage ([ˈapˌlaːɡə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abfrage is recorded at frequency rank #32,893, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌfʁaːɡə]. Ablage is at rank #31,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌlaːɡə].

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 64809, this pair ranks #628,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abfrage vs Ablage

Shared letters: abeg. Private to "Abfrage": fr. Private to "Ablage": l.

"Abfrage" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "Ablage" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abfrage ← abbfrage · abfarge · abffrage · abfraeg · abfragge · abfrgae · abfrrage · abrfage
  • Ablage ← abalge · abblage · ablaeg · ablagge · ablgae · abllage · albage · balage

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abfrage" and "Ablage" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌfʁaːɡə] versus [ˈapˌlaːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abfrage" vs "Ablage" - which ranks higher?
"Ablage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,916 in our German list, against #32,893 for "Abfrage". 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 "Abfrage" and "Ablage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abfrage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ablage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #628,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abfrage" and "Ablage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abfrage vs abtragen". 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 #628,501 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