AblebenvsanlegenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Ableben is a noun, anlegen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ableben” is a noun and “anlegen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,994
“Ableben” frequency rank
#5,453
“anlegen” frequency rank
28447
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ableben anlegen
Definition Zeitpunkt beziehungsweise Zustand, an beziehungsweise in dem alle Lebensfunktionen eines Menschen aufgehört haben; Ende des menschlichen Daseins etwas erschaffen oder erstellen

Where the eye mixes Ableben and anlegen

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

7 ch
Ableben
7 ch
anlegen

Why the eye confuses Ableben with anlegen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ableben is [ˈapˌleːbn̩] while anlegen is [ˈanˌleːɡn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ableben is recorded at frequency rank #22,994, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌleːbn̩]. anlegen is at rank #5,453, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌleːɡn̩].

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 28447, this pair ranks #1,784,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ableben vs anlegen

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "Ableben": b. Private to "anlegen": g.

"Ableben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anlegen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ablebenabbleben · abelben · ablbeen · ablebben · ablebenn · ablebne · ableebn · ablleben
  • anlegenalnegen · anelgen · anleegn · anlegenn · anleggen · anlegne · anlgeen · anllegen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ableben" and "anlegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ableben" is a noun and "anlegen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Ableben" vs "anlegen" - which ranks higher?
"anlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,453 in our German list, against #22,994 for "Ableben". 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 "Ableben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anlegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,784,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ableben" and "anlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ableben vs Alleen". 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 #1,784,612 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