abgegebenvsaufgegebenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,405
“abgegeben” frequency rank
#4,097
“aufgegeben” frequency rank
8502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgegeben aufgegeben
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abgeben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs aufgeben

Where the eye mixes abgegeben and aufgegeben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abgegeben runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCVC) against aufgegeben's 10 (VVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
abgegeben
10 ch
aufgegeben

Why the eye confuses abgegeben with aufgegeben

A purely visual mix-up. abgegeben ([ˈapɡəˌɡeːbn̩]) and aufgegeben ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌɡeːbn̩]) 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 8502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgegeben is recorded at frequency rank #4,405, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌɡeːbn̩]. aufgegeben is at rank #4,097, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌɡeːbn̩].

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 8502, this pair ranks #1,984,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abgegeben vs aufgegeben

Shared letters: abegn. Private to "abgegeben": -. Private to "aufgegeben": fu.

"abgegeben" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "aufgegeben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgegeben ← abbgegeben · abeggeben · abgeegben · abgegbeen · abgegebben · abgegebenn · abgegebne · abgegeebn
  • aufgegeben ← afugegeben · aufeggeben · auffgegeben · aufgeegben · aufgegbeen · aufgegebben · aufgegebenn · aufgegebne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abgegeben" and "aufgegeben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌɡeːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abgegeben" vs "aufgegeben" - which ranks higher?
"aufgegeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,097 in our German list, against #4,405 for "abgegeben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "abgegeben" and "aufgegeben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgegeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgegeben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,984,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgegeben" and "aufgegeben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgegeben vs abgelegen". 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 #1,984,028 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