abkommenvsankommenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,245
“abkommen” frequency rank
#5,905
“ankommen” frequency rank
10150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abkommen ankommen
Definition von (etwas, jemandem) stammen, auf (etwas, jemanden) zurückgehen einen Ort, ein Ziel erreichen

Where the eye mixes abkommen and ankommen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
abkommen
8 ch
ankommen

Look-alike desk: abkommen vs ankommen

A purely visual mix-up. abkommen ([ˈapˌkɔmən]) and ankommen ([ˈanˌkɔmən]) 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 “abkommen” becomes n in “ankommen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abkommen is recorded at frequency rank #4,245, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌkɔmən]. ankommen is at rank #5,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌkɔmən].

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 10150, this pair ranks #1,976,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abkommen vs ankommen

Shared letters: aekmno. Private to "abkommen": b. Private to "ankommen": -.

"abkommen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "ankommen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abkommenabbkommen · abkkommen · abkmomen · abkomemn · abkomen · abkommenn · abkommne · abokmmen
  • ankommenaknommen · ankkommen · ankmomen · ankomemn · ankomen · ankommenn · ankommne · annkommen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abkommen" and "ankommen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌkɔmən] versus [ˈanˌkɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abkommen" vs "ankommen" - which ranks higher?
"abkommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,245 in our German list, against #5,905 for "ankommen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "abkommen" and "ankommen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abkommen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ankommen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abkommen" and "ankommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ankomme vs ankommen". 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 #1,976,551 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