AbnahmevsAnnahmeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,084
“Abnahme” frequency rank
#3,792
“Annahme” frequency rank
16876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abnahme Annahme
Definition Veränderung, bei der etwas weniger/geringer/niedriger wird Glaube an einen (noch) nicht erwiesenen oder nicht beweisbaren Sachverhalt, eine Hypothese oder Axiom

Where the eye mixes Abnahme and Annahme

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

7 ch
Abnahme
7 ch
Annahme

Visual trap between Abnahme and Annahme

A purely visual mix-up. Abnahme ([ˈapˌnaːmə]) and Annahme ([ˈannaːmə]) 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 a single letter - b in “Abnahme” becomes n in “Annahme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abnahme is recorded at frequency rank #13,084, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌnaːmə]. Annahme is at rank #3,792, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈannaːmə].

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 16876, this pair ranks #1,932,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Abnahme vs Annahme

Shared letters: aehmn. Private to "Abnahme": b. Private to "Annahme": -.

"Abnahme" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "Annahme" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abnahme ← abanhme · abbnahme · abnahem · abnahhme · abnahmme · abnamhe · abnhame · abnnahme
  • Annahme ← anahme · ananhme · annahem · annahhme · annahmme · annamhe · annhame · nanahme

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Abnahme" and "Annahme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌnaːmə] versus [ˈannaːmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Abnahme" or "Annahme" show up more?
"Annahme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,792 in our German list, against #13,084 for "Abnahme". 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 "Abnahme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Annahme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abnahme" and "Annahme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abnahme vs annehme". 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 #1,932,272 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