ableitenvsabreisenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,299
“ableiten” frequency rank
#39,187
“abreisen” frequency rank
52486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ableiten abreisen
Definition etwas abzweigen lassen, abführen eine Reise von einem bestimmten Punkt aus, zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt aus antreten

Where the eye mixes ableiten and abreisen

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

8 ch
ableiten
8 ch
abreisen

Look-alike desk: ableiten vs abreisen

A purely visual mix-up. ableiten ([ˈapˌlaɪ̯tn̩]) and abreisen ([ˈapˌʁaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ableiten is recorded at frequency rank #13,299, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌlaɪ̯tn̩]. abreisen is at rank #39,187, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁaɪ̯zn̩].

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 52486, this pair ranks #1,094,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ableiten vs abreisen

Shared letters: abein. Private to "ableiten": lt. Private to "abreisen": rs.

"ableiten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "abreisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ableiten ← abbleiten · abeliten · ableietn · ableitenn · ableitne · ableitten · abletien · ablieten
  • abreisen ← abbreisen · aberisen · abreiesn · abreisenn · abreisne · abreissen · abresien · abriesen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ableiten" and "abreisen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌlaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈapˌʁaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ableiten" vs "abreisen" - which ranks higher?
"ableiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,299 in our German list, against #39,187 for "abreisen". 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 "ableiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abreisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,094,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ableiten" and "abreisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgreifen vs abreisen". 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 #1,094,887 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