AblagevsAbsageWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,916
“Ablage” frequency rank
#9,315
“Absage” frequency rank
41231
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ablage Absage
Definition ein offenes Behältnis (oder auch dafür bestimmter Ort), das dazu dient, Dinge (meist: Papier) hineinzulegen Mitteilung, dass etwas Geplantes nicht zustande kommt

Where the eye mixes Ablage and Absage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Ablage
6 ch
Absage

Look-alike desk: Ablage vs Absage

A purely visual mix-up. Ablage ([ˈapˌlaːɡə]) and Absage ([ˈapˌz̥aːɡə]) 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 - l in “Ablage” becomes s in “Absage”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ablage is recorded at frequency rank #31,916, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌlaːɡə]. Absage is at rank #9,315, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌz̥aːɡə].

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 41231, this pair ranks #1,485,561 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ablage vs Absage

Shared letters: abeg. Private to "Ablage": l. Private to "Absage": s.

"Ablage" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "Absage" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ablageabalge · abblage · ablaeg · ablagge · ablgae · abllage · albage · balage
  • Absageabasge · abbsage · absaeg · absagge · absgae · abssage · asbage · basage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ablage" for "Absage" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌlaːɡə] versus [ˈapˌz̥aːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ablage" or "Absage"?
"Absage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,315 in our German list, against #31,916 for "Ablage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ablage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Absage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,485,561 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ablage" and "Absage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ablage vs ablegt". 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 #1,485,561 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