Which to use
“abgefallen” is an adjective and “abgehalten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,334
- “abgefallen” frequency rank
- #8,502
- “abgehalten” frequency rank
- 45836
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abgefallen | abgehalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein im Ergebnis einer abwärts gerichteten, fallenden, (sich) lösenden Bewegung entstandener Zustand | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abhalten |
Where the eye mixes abgefallen and abgehalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abgefallen and abgehalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abgefallen with abgehalten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abgefallen is [ˈapɡəˌfalən] while abgehalten is [ˈapɡəˌhaltn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abgefallen is recorded at frequency rank #37,334, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌfalən]. abgehalten is at rank #8,502, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌhaltn̩].
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 45836, this pair ranks #1,339,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abgefallen vs abgehalten
Shared letters: abegln. Private to "abgefallen": f. Private to "abgehalten": ht.
"abgefallen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC · "abgehalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abgefallen ← abbgefallen · abegfallen · abgeafllen · abgefaleln · abgefalen · abgefallenn · abgefallne · abgeffallen
- abgehalten ← abbgehalten · abeghalten · abgeahlten · abgehaletn · abgehallten · abgehaltenn · abgehaltne · abgehaltten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abgefallen" for "abgehalten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "abgefallen" or "abgehalten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abgefallen" and "abgehalten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abgefallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abgehalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,339,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abgefallen" and "abgehalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgefallen vs angefallen". 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 #1,339,632 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.