abgetriebenvsangetriebenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,736
“abgetrieben” frequency rank
#14,494
“angetrieben” frequency rank
60230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgetrieben angetrieben
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abtreiben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs antreiben

Where the eye mixes abgetrieben and angetrieben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. abgetrieben and angetrieben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
abgetrieben
11 ch
angetrieben

Look-alike desk: abgetrieben vs angetrieben

A purely visual mix-up. abgetrieben ([ˈapɡəˌtʁiːbn̩]) and angetrieben ([ˈanɡəˌtʁiːbn̩]) 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 “abgetrieben” becomes n in “angetrieben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgetrieben is recorded at frequency rank #45,736, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌtʁiːbn̩]. angetrieben is at rank #14,494, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanɡəˌtʁiːbn̩].

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 60230, this pair ranks #794,800 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abgetrieben vs angetrieben

Shared letters: abeginrt. Private to "abgetrieben": -. Private to "angetrieben": -.

"abgetrieben" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC  ·  "angetrieben" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgetriebenabbgetrieben · abegtrieben · abgertieben · abgetireben · abgetreiben · abgetribeen · abgetriebben · abgetriebenn
  • angetriebenagnetrieben · anegtrieben · angertieben · angetireben · angetreiben · angetribeen · angetriebben · angetriebenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abgetrieben" and "angetrieben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌtʁiːbn̩] versus [ˈanɡəˌtʁiːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abgetrieben" or "angetrieben" show up more?
"angetrieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,494 in our German list, against #45,736 for "abgetrieben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgetrieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "angetrieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #794,800 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgetrieben" and "angetrieben" 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 #794,800 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