AbgabevsAblageTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,265
“Abgabe” frequency rank
#31,916
“Ablage” frequency rank
39181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abgabe Ablage
Definition Zahlungen an Behörden ein offenes Behältnis (oder auch dafür bestimmter Ort), das dazu dient, Dinge (meist: Papier) hineinzulegen

Where the eye mixes Abgabe and Ablage

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

6 ch
Abgabe
6 ch
Ablage

Visual trap between Abgabe and Ablage

A purely visual mix-up. Abgabe ([ˈapˌɡaːbə]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abgabe is recorded at frequency rank #7,265, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌɡaːbə]. 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 39181, this pair ranks #1,543,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Abgabe vs Ablage

Shared letters: abeg. Private to "Abgabe": -. Private to "Ablage": l.

"Abgabe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "Ablage" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abgabeabagbe · abbgabe · abgabbe · abgaeb · abgbae · abggabe · agbabe · bagabe
  • Ablageabalge · abblage · ablaeg · ablagge · ablgae · abllage · albage · balage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abgabe" for "Ablage" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌɡaːbə] versus [ˈapˌlaːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Abgabe" or "Ablage" show up more?
"Abgabe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,265 in our German list, against #31,916 for "Ablage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abgabe" 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 #1,543,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abgabe" and "Ablage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ablage vs ablegt". 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 #1,543,860 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