ablaufenvsabräumenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,298
“ablaufen” frequency rank
#43,682
“abräumen” frequency rank
56980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ablaufen abräumen
Definition zu laufen beginnen Gegenstände von einer Oberfläche entfernen

Where the eye mixes ablaufen and abräumen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ablaufen and abräumen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
ablaufen
8 ch
abräumen

Look-alike desk: ablaufen vs abräumen

A purely visual mix-up. ablaufen ([ˈapˌlaʊ̯fn̩]) and abräumen ([ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ablaufen is recorded at frequency rank #13,298, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. abräumen is at rank #43,682, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən].

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 56980, this pair ranks #919,257 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ablaufen vs abräumen

Shared letters: abenu. Private to "ablaufen": fl. Private to "abräumen": mrä.

"ablaufen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "abräumen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ablaufen ← abalufen · abblaufen · ablafuen · ablauefn · ablaufenn · ablauffen · ablaufne · abllaufen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ablaufen" and "abräumen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌlaʊ̯fn̩] versus [ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ablaufen" vs "abräumen" - which ranks higher?
"ablaufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,298 in our German list, against #43,682 for "abräumen". 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 "ablaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abräumen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #919,257 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ablaufen" and "abräumen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abräumen vs absaugen". 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 #919,257 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