Which to use
“abgehen” is a verb and “Ableben” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,481
- “abgehen” frequency rank
- #22,994
- “Ableben” frequency rank
- 43475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abgehen | Ableben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine bestimmte Stelle, Ort verlassen, weggehen | Zeitpunkt beziehungsweise Zustand, an beziehungsweise in dem alle Lebensfunktionen eines Menschen aufgehört haben; Ende des menschlichen Daseins |
Where the eye mixes abgehen and Ableben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abgehen and Ableben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abgehen with Ableben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abgehen is [ˈapˌɡeːən] while Ableben is [ˈapˌleːbn̩]. 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 43475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abgehen is recorded at frequency rank #20,481, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌɡeːən]. Ableben is at rank #22,994, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌleːbn̩].
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 43475, this pair ranks #1,416,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abgehen vs Ableben
Shared letters: aben. Private to "abgehen": gh. Private to "Ableben": l.
"abgehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "Ableben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abgehen" and "Ableben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abgehen" or "Ableben" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Ableben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,416,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abgehen" and "Ableben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ableben vs Alleen". 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 #1,416,890 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.