AbläufevsAnläufeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,018
“Abläufe” frequency rank
#48,704
“Anläufe” frequency rank
63722
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abläufe Anläufe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ablauf Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anlauf

Where the eye mixes Abläufe and Anläufe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Abläufe and Anläufe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Abläufe
7 ch
Anläufe

Look-alike desk: Abläufe vs Anläufe

A purely visual mix-up. Abläufe ([ˈapˌlɔɪ̯fə]) and Anläufe ([ˈanlɔɪ̯fə]) 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 “Abläufe” becomes n in “Anläufe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abläufe is recorded at frequency rank #15,018, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌlɔɪ̯fə]. Anläufe is at rank #48,704, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanlɔɪ̯fə].

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 63722, this pair ranks #666,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abläufe vs Anläufe

Shared letters: aefluä. Private to "Abläufe": b. Private to "Anläufe": n.

"Abläufe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV  ·  "Anläufe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abläufe" and "Anläufe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌlɔɪ̯fə] versus [ˈanlɔɪ̯fə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abläufe" vs "Anläufe" - which ranks higher?
"Abläufe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,018 in our German list, against #48,704 for "Anläufe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abläufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anläufe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #666,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abläufe" and "Anläufe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Anlässe vs Anläufe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #666,630 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