ablegenvsablenkenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,496
“ablegen” frequency rank
#12,014
“ablenken” frequency rank
21510
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ablegen ablenken
Definition fortlegen, niederlegen, irgendwohin legen die Aufmerksamkeit auf etwas anderes lenken

Where the eye mixes ablegen and ablenken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ablegen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against ablenken's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
ablegen
8 ch
ablenken

Visual trap between ablegen and ablenken

A purely visual mix-up. ablegen ([ˈapˌleːɡn̩]) and ablenken ([ˈapˌlɛŋkn̩]) 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 21510, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ablegen is recorded at frequency rank #9,496, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌleːɡn̩]. ablenken is at rank #12,014, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlɛŋkn̩].

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 21510, this pair ranks #1,885,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ablegen vs ablenken

Shared letters: abeln. Private to "ablegen": g. Private to "ablenken": k.

"ablegen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "ablenken" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ablegen ← abblegen · abelgen · ableegn · ablegenn · ableggen · ablegne · ablgeen · abllegen
  • ablenken ← abblenken · abelnken · ableknen · ablenekn · ablenkenn · ablenkken · ablenkne · ablennken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ablegen" for "ablenken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈapˌlɛŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ablegen" or "ablenken"?
"ablegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,496 in our German list, against #12,014 for "ablenken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ablegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ablenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,885,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ablegen" and "ablenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ablehnten vs ablenken". 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 #1,885,437 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