Which to use
“abhalten” and “abhängen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,672
- “abhalten” frequency rank
- #10,026
- “abhängen” frequency rank
- 18698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhalten | abhängen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden an etwas hindern, von etwas fernhalten | zur Bedingung haben |
Where the eye mixes abhalten and abhängen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abhalten and abhängen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between abhalten and abhängen
A purely visual mix-up. abhalten ([ˈapˌhaltn̩]) and abhängen ([ˈapˌhɛŋən]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18698, 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]. abhängen is at rank #10,026, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhɛŋən].
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 18698, this pair ranks #1,915,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abhalten vs abhängen
Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abhalten": lt. Private to "abhängen": gä.
"abhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "abhängen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abhalten ← abahlten · abbhalten · abhaletn · abhallten · abhaltenn · abhaltne · abhaltten · abhatlen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abhalten" for "abhängen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abhalten" or "abhängen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abhalten" and "abhängen" 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 "abhängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,915,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhalten" and "abhängen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhängen vs absaugen". 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 #1,915,759 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.