abgetretenvsangetretenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,045
“abgetreten” frequency rank
#12,445
“angetreten” frequency rank
40490
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgetreten angetreten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abtreten Partizip Perfekt des Verbs antreten

Where the eye mixes abgetreten and angetreten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
abgetreten
10 ch
angetreten

Visual trap between abgetreten and angetreten

A purely visual mix-up. abgetreten ([ˈapɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]) and angetreten ([ˈanɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “abgetreten” becomes n in “angetreten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgetreten is recorded at frequency rank #28,045, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]. angetreten is at rank #12,445, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanɡəˌtʁeːtn̩].

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 40490, this pair ranks #1,506,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abgetreten vs angetreten

Shared letters: aegnrt. Private to "abgetreten": b. Private to "angetreten": -.

"abgetreten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "angetreten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgetretenabbgetreten · abegtreten · abgerteten · abgeterten · abgetreetn · abgetretenn · abgetretne · abgetretten
  • angetretenagnetreten · anegtreten · angerteten · angeterten · angetreetn · angetretenn · angetretne · angetretten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abgetreten" and "angetreten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌtʁeːtn̩] versus [ˈanɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abgetreten" or "angetreten" show up more?
"angetreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,445 in our German list, against #28,045 for "abgetreten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgetreten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "angetreten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,506,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgetreten" and "angetreten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgetreten vs abgetrieben". 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 #1,506,956 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