AbgangvsAbgasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,668
“Abgang” frequency rank
#39,759
“Abgas” frequency rank
49427
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abgang Abgas
Definition Weg, der nach unten führt; eine Treppe, eine Rampe, die abwärts führt gasförmiges Produkt einer Reaktion, meist aus einer Verbrennung, das im Regelfall nicht mehr nutzbar ist

Where the eye mixes Abgang and Abgas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Abgang runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against Abgas's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Abgang
5 ch
Abgas

Visual trap between Abgang and Abgas

A purely visual mix-up. Abgang ([ˈapˌɡaŋ]) and Abgas ([ˈapˌɡaːs]) 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 49427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abgang is recorded at frequency rank #9,668, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌɡaŋ]. Abgas is at rank #39,759, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌɡaːs].

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 49427, this pair ranks #1,211,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abgang vs Abgas

Shared letters: abg. Private to "Abgang": n. Private to "Abgas": s.

"Abgang" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Abgas" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abgang ← abagng · abbgang · abgagn · abgangg · abganng · abggang · abgnag · agbang
  • Abgas ← abags · abbgas · abgass · abggas · abgsa · agbas · bagas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abgang" and "Abgas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌɡaŋ] versus [ˈapˌɡaːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Abgang" or "Abgas" show up more?
"Abgang" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,668 in our German list, against #39,759 for "Abgas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abgang" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Abgas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,211,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abgang" and "Abgas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abgas vs ages". 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 #1,211,920 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