Which to use
“abholen” and “aufholen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,792
- “abholen” frequency rank
- #27,629
- “aufholen” frequency rank
- 33421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abholen | aufholen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von einem Ort nehmen, um es (mit sich) an einen anderen zu bringen | oder einen Rückstand oder eine Verspätung verringern |
Where the eye mixes abholen and aufholen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abholen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against aufholen's 8 (VVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: abholen vs aufholen
A purely visual mix-up. abholen ([ˈapˌhoːlən]) and aufholen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌhoːlən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abholen is recorded at frequency rank #5,792, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhoːlən]. aufholen is at rank #27,629, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌhoːlən].
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 33421, this pair ranks #1,686,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abholen vs aufholen
Shared letters: aehlno. Private to "abholen": b. Private to "aufholen": fu.
"abholen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "aufholen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abholen" and "aufholen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abholen" or "aufholen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abholen" and "aufholen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abholen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aufholen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,686,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abholen" and "aufholen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufholen vs aufzuholen". 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 #1,686,329 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.