Which to use
“abgelaufen” is an adjective and “angelaufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,312
- “abgelaufen” frequency rank
- #28,995
- “angelaufen” frequency rank
- 38307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abgelaufen | angelaufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | länger gelagert, als das aufgedruckte Verfallsdatum; Verfallsdatum < aktuelles Datum, ein Gültigkeitsdatum überschritten habend | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs anlaufen |
Where the eye mixes abgelaufen and angelaufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abgelaufen and angelaufen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: abgelaufen vs angelaufen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abgelaufen is [ˈapɡəˌlaʊ̯fn̩] while angelaufen is [ˈanɡəˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “abgelaufen” becomes n in “angelaufen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abgelaufen is recorded at frequency rank #9,312, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. angelaufen is at rank #28,995, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanɡəˌlaʊ̯fn̩].
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 38307, this pair ranks #1,567,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abgelaufen vs angelaufen
Shared letters: aefglnu. Private to "abgelaufen": b. Private to "angelaufen": -.
"abgelaufen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCVC · "angelaufen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abgelaufen ← abbgelaufen · abeglaufen · abgealufen · abgelafuen · abgelauefn · abgelaufenn · abgelauffen · abgelaufne
- angelaufen ← agnelaufen · aneglaufen · angealufen · angelafuen · angelauefn · angelaufenn · angelauffen · angelaufne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abgelaufen" for "angelaufen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abgelaufen" vs "angelaufen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abgelaufen" and "angelaufen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abgelaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "angelaufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,567,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abgelaufen" and "angelaufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgelaufene vs angelaufen". 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 #1,567,370 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.