AblagevsAnlagenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,916
“Ablage” frequency rank
#2,753
“Anlagen” frequency rank
34669
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ablage Anlagen
Definition ein offenes Behältnis (oder auch dafür bestimmter Ort), das dazu dient, Dinge (meist: Papier) hineinzulegen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anlage

Where the eye mixes Ablage and Anlagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ablage runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against Anlagen's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Ablage
7 ch
Anlagen

Why the eye confuses Ablage with Anlagen

A purely visual mix-up. Ablage ([ˈapˌlaːɡə]) and Anlagen ([ˈanˌlaːɡn̩]) 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 34669, 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]. Anlagen is at rank #2,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌlaːɡn̩].

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 34669, this pair ranks #1,658,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ablage vs Anlagen

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "Ablage": b. Private to "Anlagen": n.

"Ablage" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "Anlagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ablage ← abalge · abblage · ablaeg · ablagge · ablgae · abllage · albage · balage
  • Anlagen ← alnagen · analgen · anlaegn · anlagenn · anlaggen · anlagne · anlgaen · anllagen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ablage" and "Anlagen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌlaːɡə] versus [ˈanˌlaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ablage" vs "Anlagen" - which ranks higher?
"Anlagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,753 in our German list, against #31,916 for "Ablage". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Anlagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,658,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ablage" and "Anlagen" 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 #1,658,014 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