abnehmenvsabsehenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,758
“abnehmen” frequency rank
#26,726
“absehen” frequency rank
31484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abnehmen absehen
Definition von einer Stelle entfernen (zukünftige Ereignisse) voraussehen

Where the eye mixes abnehmen and absehen

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

8 ch
abnehmen
7 ch
absehen

Look-alike desk: abnehmen vs absehen

A purely visual mix-up. abnehmen ([ˈapˌneːmən]) and absehen ([ˈapˌz̥eːən]) 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 31484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abnehmen is recorded at frequency rank #4,758, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌneːmən]. absehen is at rank #26,726, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌz̥eːən].

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 31484, this pair ranks #1,727,184 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abnehmen vs absehen

Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abnehmen": m. Private to "absehen": s.

"abnehmen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "absehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abnehmen ← abbnehmen · abenhmen · abnehemn · abnehhmen · abnehmenn · abnehmmen · abnehmne · abnemhen
  • absehen ← abbsehen · abeshen · abseehn · absehenn · absehhen · absehne · absheen · abssehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abnehmen" for "absehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌneːmən] versus [ˈapˌz̥eːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abnehmen" vs "absehen" - which ranks higher?
"abnehmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,758 in our German list, against #26,726 for "absehen". 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 "abnehmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "absehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,727,184 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abnehmen" and "absehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abdrehen vs absehen". 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 #1,727,184 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