Which to use
“abkaufen” and “ablaufen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,412
- “abkaufen” frequency rank
- #13,298
- “ablaufen” frequency rank
- 44710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abkaufen | ablaufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von jemandem etwas privat oder gefälligkeitshalber kaufen | zu laufen beginnen |
Where the eye mixes abkaufen and ablaufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abkaufen and ablaufen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abkaufen with ablaufen
A purely visual mix-up. abkaufen ([ˈapˌkaʊ̯fn̩]) and ablaufen ([ˈapˌlaʊ̯fn̩]) 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 - k in “abkaufen” becomes l in “ablaufen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abkaufen is recorded at frequency rank #31,412, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌkaʊ̯fn̩]. ablaufen is at rank #13,298, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlaʊ̯fn̩].
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 44710, this pair ranks #1,377,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abkaufen vs ablaufen
Shared letters: abefnu. Private to "abkaufen": k. Private to "ablaufen": l.
"abkaufen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "ablaufen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abkaufen" for "ablaufen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "abkaufen" or "ablaufen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abkaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ablaufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,377,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abkaufen" and "ablaufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abkaufen 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 #1,377,254 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.