abgehörtvsabgelöstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,597
“abgehört” frequency rank
#10,407
“abgelöst” frequency rank
33004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgehört abgelöst
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abhören Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ablösen

Where the eye mixes abgehört and abgelöst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abgehört and abgelöst follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
abgehört
8 ch
abgelöst

Why the eye confuses abgehört with abgelöst

A purely visual mix-up. abgehört ([ˈapɡəˌhøːɐ̯t]) and abgelöst ([ˈapɡəˌløːst]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgehört is recorded at frequency rank #22,597, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌhøːɐ̯t]. abgelöst is at rank #10,407, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌløːst].

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 33004, this pair ranks #1,695,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abgehört vs abgelöst

Shared letters: abegtö. Private to "abgehört": hr. Private to "abgelöst": ls.

"abgehört" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "abgelöst" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abgehört" for "abgelöst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌhøːɐ̯t] versus [ˈapɡəˌløːst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abgehört" vs "abgelöst" - which ranks higher?
"abgelöst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,407 in our German list, against #22,597 for "abgehört". 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 "abgehört" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abgelöst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,695,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgehört" and "abgelöst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgehakt vs abgehört". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,695,365 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