abhakenvsabratenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,894
“abhaken” frequency rank
#41,622
“abraten” frequency rank
74516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abhaken abraten
Definition mit einem Häkchen versehen jemandem raten, etwas nicht zu tun

Where the eye mixes abhaken and abraten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abhaken and abraten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
abhaken
7 ch
abraten

Visual trap between abhaken and abraten

A purely visual mix-up. abhaken ([ˈapˌhaːkn̩]) and abraten ([ˈapˌʁaːtn̩]) 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 74516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abhaken is recorded at frequency rank #32,894, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaːkn̩]. abraten is at rank #41,622, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁaːtn̩].

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 74516, this pair ranks #331,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abhaken vs abraten

Shared letters: aben. Private to "abhaken": hk. Private to "abraten": rt.

"abhaken" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "abraten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abhaken ← abahken · abbhaken · abhaekn · abhakenn · abhakken · abhakne · abhhaken · abhkaen
  • abraten ← abarten · abbraten · abraetn · abratenn · abratne · abratten · abrraten · abrtaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abhaken" for "abraten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌhaːkn̩] versus [ˈapˌʁaːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abhaken" or "abraten"?
"abhaken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,894 in our German list, against #41,622 for "abraten". 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 "abhaken" and "abraten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abhaken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abraten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #331,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abhaken" and "abraten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abraten vs abtragen". 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 #331,419 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