Which to use
“abgreifen” and “abtreiben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,911
- “abgreifen” frequency rank
- #43,685
- “abtreiben” frequency rank
- 91596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abgreifen | abtreiben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (mit der Hand) untersuchen | etwas oder jemanden, welches oder welcher sich fliegend oder schwimmend bewegt, von einer Richtung ablenken |
Where the eye mixes abgreifen and abtreiben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abgreifen and abtreiben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abgreifen with abtreiben
A purely visual mix-up. abgreifen ([ˈapˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]) and abtreiben ([ˈapˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) 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 91596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abgreifen is recorded at frequency rank #47,911, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. abtreiben is at rank #43,685, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩].
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 91596, this pair ranks #36,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abgreifen vs abtreiben
Shared letters: abeinr. Private to "abgreifen": fg. Private to "abtreiben": t.
"abgreifen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "abtreiben" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "abgreifen" and "abtreiben" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "abgreifen" vs "abtreiben" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abgreifen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abtreiben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abgreifen" and "abtreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abtreiben vs abtrennen". 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 #36,546 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.