abhauenvsanhabenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#25,868
“abhauen” frequency rank
#24,606
“anhaben” frequency rank
50474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abhauen anhaben
Definition etwas abschlagen, abtrennen (starke und schwache Konjugation: hieb/haute ab und abgehauen/abgehaut) ein Kleidungsstück am Körper tragen

Where the eye mixes abhauen and anhaben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abhauen (VCCVVVC) and anhaben (VCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
abhauen
7 ch
anhaben

Look-alike desk: abhauen vs anhaben

A purely visual mix-up. abhauen ([ˈapˌhaʊ̯ən]) and anhaben ([ˈanˌhaːbn̩]) 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 50474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abhauen is recorded at frequency rank #25,868, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaʊ̯ən]. anhaben is at rank #24,606, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhaːbn̩].

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 50474, this pair ranks #1,172,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abhauen vs anhaben

Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abhauen": u. Private to "anhaben": -.

"abhauen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC  ·  "anhaben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abhauen ← abahuen · abbhauen · abhaeun · abhauenn · abhaune · abhhauen · abhuaen · ahbauen
  • anhaben ← ahnaben · anahben · anhabben · anhabenn · anhabne · anhaebn · anhbaen · anhhaben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abhauen" for "anhaben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌhaʊ̯ən] versus [ˈanˌhaːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abhauen" vs "anhaben" - which ranks higher?
"anhaben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,606 in our German list, against #25,868 for "abhauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "abhauen" and "anhaben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abhauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anhaben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,172,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abhauen" and "anhaben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhauen 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 #1,172,372 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