Which to use
“abhalten” is a verb and “abhanden” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,672
- “abhalten” frequency rank
- #21,866
- “abhanden” frequency rank
- 30538
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhalten | abhanden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden an etwas hindern, von etwas fernhalten | verloren gehen |
Where the eye mixes abhalten and abhanden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abhalten and abhanden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abhalten with abhanden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abhalten is [ˈapˌhaltn̩] while abhanden is [apˈhandn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abhalten is recorded at frequency rank #8,672, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaltn̩]. abhanden is at rank #21,866, tagged as anadv, pronounced [apˈhandn̩].
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 30538, this pair ranks #1,745,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abhalten vs abhanden
Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abhalten": lt. Private to "abhanden": d.
"abhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "abhanden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "abhalten" and "abhanden" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "abhalten" vs "abhanden" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abhalten" and "abhanden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abhanden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,745,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhalten" and "abhanden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhanden vs ahnden". 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 #1,745,868 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.