abgabvsAbgabenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#36,767
“abgab” frequency rank
#8,979
“Abgaben” frequency rank
45746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgab Abgaben
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs abgeben Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Abgabe

Where the eye mixes abgab and Abgaben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
abgab
7 ch
Abgaben

Visual trap between abgab and Abgaben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abgab is [ˈapˌɡaːp] while Abgaben is [ˈapˌɡaːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “abgab” sits inside “Abgaben”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgab is recorded at frequency rank #36,767, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌɡaːp]. Abgaben is at rank #8,979, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌɡaːbn̩].

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 45746, this pair ranks #1,342,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abgab vs Abgaben

Shared letters: abg. Private to "abgab": -. Private to "Abgaben": en.

"abgab" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Abgaben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgababagb · abbgab · abgabb · abgba · abggab · agbab · bagab
  • Abgabenabagben · abbgaben · abgabben · abgabenn · abgabne · abgaebn · abgbaen · abggaben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abgab" for "Abgaben" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abgab" is a verb and "Abgaben" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "abgab" vs "Abgaben" - which ranks higher?
"Abgaben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,979 in our German list, against #36,767 for "abgab". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Abgaben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,342,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgab" and "Abgaben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgab vs ausgab". 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 #1,342,610 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