Which to use
“abläuft” is a verb and “Anläufe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,226
- “abläuft” frequency rank
- #48,704
- “Anläufe” frequency rank
- 62930
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abläuft | Anläufe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs ablaufen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anlauf |
Where the eye mixes abläuft and Anläufe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abläuft (VCCVVCC) and Anläufe (VCCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: abläuft vs Anläufe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abläuft is [ˈapˌlɔɪ̯ft] while Anläufe is [ˈanlɔɪ̯fə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abläuft is recorded at frequency rank #14,226, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlɔɪ̯ft]. 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 62930, this pair ranks #694,963 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abläuft vs Anläufe
Shared letters: afluä. Private to "abläuft": bt. Private to "Anläufe": en.
"abläuft" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC · "Anläufe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "abläuft" and "Anläufe" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "abläuft" or "Anläufe" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "abläuft" and "Anläufe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abläuft" 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 #694,963 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abläuft" and "Anläufe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Anlässe vs Anläufe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #694,963 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.