Which to use
“abgeben” and “aufgeben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,556
- “abgeben” frequency rank
- #4,249
- “aufgeben” frequency rank
- 7805
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abgeben | aufgeben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem etwas geben, der es haben soll oder verlangt | etwas Sinnloses beenden, aufhören, einstellen; etwas beenden, obwohl der Sinn im Weitermachen besteht |
Where the eye mixes abgeben and aufgeben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: abgeben vs aufgeben
A purely visual mix-up. abgeben ([ˈapˌɡeːbn̩]) and aufgeben ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːbn̩]) 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 7805, 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]. aufgeben is at rank #4,249, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːbn̩].
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 7805, this pair ranks #1,986,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abgeben vs aufgeben
Shared letters: abegn. Private to "abgeben": -. Private to "aufgeben": fu.
"abgeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "aufgeben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abgeben" for "aufgeben" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abgeben" vs "aufgeben" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "aufgeben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,986,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abgeben" and "aufgeben" 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 #1,986,840 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.