abgetretenvsaufgetretenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,045
“abgetreten” frequency rank
#10,612
“aufgetreten” frequency rank
38657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgetreten aufgetreten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abtreten Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auftreten

Where the eye mixes abgetreten and aufgetreten

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

10 ch
abgetreten
11 ch
aufgetreten

Why the eye confuses abgetreten with aufgetreten

A purely visual mix-up. abgetreten ([ˈapɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]) and aufgetreten ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]) 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 38657, 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]. aufgetreten is at rank #10,612, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtʁeːtn̩].

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 38657, this pair ranks #1,558,127 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abgetreten vs aufgetreten

Shared letters: aegnrt. Private to "abgetreten": b. Private to "aufgetreten": fu.

"abgetreten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "aufgetreten" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgetretenabbgetreten · abegtreten · abgerteten · abgeterten · abgetreetn · abgetretenn · abgetretne · abgetretten
  • aufgetretenafugetreten · aufegtreten · auffgetreten · aufgerteten · aufgeterten · aufgetreetn · aufgetretenn · aufgetretne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abgetreten" and "aufgetreten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌtʁeːtn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abgetreten" or "aufgetreten"?
"aufgetreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,612 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgetreten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgetreten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,558,127 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgetreten" and "aufgetreten" 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 #1,558,127 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