Which to use
“abheben” and “anheben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,850
- “abheben” frequency rank
- #18,469
- “anheben” frequency rank
- 31319
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abheben | anheben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas von etwas anderem, zum Beispiel auch einer Unterlage oder einem Unterteil, herunternehmen | ein wenig in die Höhe heben |
Where the eye mixes abheben and anheben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abheben and anheben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: abheben vs anheben
A purely visual mix-up. abheben ([ˈapˌheːbn̩]) and anheben ([ˈanˌheːbn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “abheben” becomes n in “anheben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abheben is recorded at frequency rank #12,850, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌheːbn̩]. anheben is at rank #18,469, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌheːbn̩].
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 31319, this pair ranks #1,730,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abheben vs anheben
Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abheben": -. Private to "anheben": -.
"abheben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "anheben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abheben" and "anheben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abheben" or "anheben" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abheben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anheben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,730,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abheben" and "anheben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anheben vs anheizen". 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 #1,730,528 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.