Which to use
“abhören” and “anhören” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,172
- “abhören” frequency rank
- #6,143
- “anhören” frequency rank
- 33315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhören | anhören |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gelerntes aufsagen lassen und dadurch den Erfolg kontrollieren | jemandem (aufmerksam) zuhören; jemandem (vor allem vor Gericht) Gehör schenken |
Where the eye mixes abhören and anhören
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abhören and anhören follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abhören with anhören
A purely visual mix-up. abhören ([ˈapˌhøːʁən]) and anhören ([ˈanˌhøːʁən]) 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 “abhören” becomes n in “anhören”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abhören is recorded at frequency rank #27,172, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhøːʁən]. anhören is at rank #6,143, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhøːʁən].
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 33315, this pair ranks #1,688,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abhören vs anhören
Shared letters: aehnrö. Private to "abhören": b. Private to "anhören": -.
"abhören" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "anhören" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abhören" for "anhören" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abhören" or "anhören"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abhören" and "anhören" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abhören" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anhören" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,688,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhören" and "anhören" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhören vs Azoren". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,688,626 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.