abgabvsaufgabWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,767
“abgab” frequency rank
#34,522
“aufgab” frequency rank
71289
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgab aufgab
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs abgeben 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufgeben

Where the eye mixes abgab and aufgab

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
abgab
6 ch
aufgab

Why the eye confuses abgab with aufgab

A purely visual mix-up. abgab ([ˈapˌɡaːp]) and aufgab ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːp]) 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 71289, 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]. aufgab is at rank #34,522, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːp].

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 71289, this pair ranks #421,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abgab vs aufgab

Shared letters: abg. Private to "abgab": -. Private to "aufgab": fu.

"abgab" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "aufgab" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgababagb · abbgab · abgabb · abgba · abggab · agbab · bagab
  • aufgabafugab · aufagb · auffgab · aufgabb · aufgba · aufggab · augfab · uafgab

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abgab" and "aufgab" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌɡaːp] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːp]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abgab" vs "aufgab" - which ranks higher?
"aufgab" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,522 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgab" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #421,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgab" and "aufgab" 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 #421,159 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