abgebenvsAngabenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,556
“abgeben” frequency rank
#1,175
“Angaben” frequency rank
4731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgeben Angaben
Definition jemandem etwas geben, der es haben soll oder verlangt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Angabe

Where the eye mixes abgeben and Angaben

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

7 ch
abgeben
7 ch
Angaben

Visual trap between abgeben and Angaben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abgeben is [ˈapˌɡeːbn̩] while Angaben is [ˈanˌɡaːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgeben is recorded at frequency rank #3,556, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌɡeːbn̩]. Angaben is at rank #1,175, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌɡaːbn̩].

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 4731, this pair ranks #1,996,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abgeben vs Angaben

Shared letters: abegn. Private to "abgeben": -. Private to "Angaben": -.

"abgeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "Angaben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgebenabbgeben · abegben · abgbeen · abgebben · abgebenn · abgebne · abgeebn · abggeben
  • Angabenagnaben · anagben · angabben · angabenn · angabne · angaebn · angbaen · anggaben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abgeben" for "Angaben" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abgeben" is a verb and "Angaben" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "abgeben" or "Angaben"?
"Angaben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,175 in our German list, against #3,556 for "abgeben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Angaben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,996,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgeben" and "Angaben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgeben vs Angeber". 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 #1,996,840 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