Which to use
“abgreifen” and “aufgreifen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,911
- “abgreifen” frequency rank
- #25,446
- “aufgreifen” frequency rank
- 73357
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abgreifen | aufgreifen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (mit der Hand) untersuchen | (Personen) wahrnehmen und mitnehmen |
Where the eye mixes abgreifen and aufgreifen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abgreifen runs 9 letters (VCCCVVCVC) against aufgreifen's 10 (VVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses abgreifen with aufgreifen
A purely visual mix-up. abgreifen ([ˈapˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]) and aufgreifen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]) 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 73357, 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]. aufgreifen is at rank #25,446, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩].
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 73357, this pair ranks #362,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abgreifen vs aufgreifen
Shared letters: aefginr. Private to "abgreifen": b. Private to "aufgreifen": u.
"abgreifen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "aufgreifen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abgreifen ← abbgreifen · abgerifen · abggreifen · abgrefien · abgreiefn · abgreifenn · abgreiffen · abgreifne
- aufgreifen ← afugreifen · auffgreifen · aufgerifen · aufggreifen · aufgrefien · aufgreiefn · aufgreifenn · aufgreiffen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "abgreifen" and "aufgreifen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "abgreifen" or "aufgreifen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abgreifen" and "aufgreifen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abgreifen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aufgreifen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abgreifen" and "aufgreifen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgreifen vs abtreiben". 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 #362,568 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.