abklärenvsabladenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,761
“abklären” frequency rank
#41,620
“abladen” frequency rank
81381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abklären abladen
Definition Klarheit über eine Angelegenheit schaffen; vollständig klären eine Ladung von einem Ort (zum Beispiel einem Transportfahrzeug) entfernen oder herunterheben

Where the eye mixes abklären and abladen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abklären runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against abladen's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
abklären
7 ch
abladen

Look-alike desk: abklären vs abladen

A purely visual mix-up. abklären ([ˈapˌklɛːʁən]) and abladen ([ˈapˌlaːdn̩]) 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 81381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abklären is recorded at frequency rank #39,761, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌklɛːʁən]. abladen is at rank #41,620, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlaːdn̩].

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 81381, this pair ranks #176,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abklären vs abladen

Shared letters: abeln. Private to "abklären": krä. Private to "abladen": d.

"abklären" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "abladen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abladen ← abalden · abbladen · abladden · abladenn · abladne · ablaedn · abldaen · albaden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abklären" and "abladen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌklɛːʁən] versus [ˈapˌlaːdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abklären" or "abladen"?
"abklären" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,761 in our German list, against #41,620 for "abladen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abklären" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abladen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #176,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abklären" and "abladen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgeladen vs abladen". 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 #176,897 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