abratenvsabräumenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,622
“abraten” frequency rank
#43,682
“abräumen” frequency rank
85304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abraten abräumen
Definition jemandem raten, etwas nicht zu tun Gegenstände von einer Oberfläche entfernen

Where the eye mixes abraten and abräumen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abraten runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against abräumen's 8 (VCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
abraten
8 ch
abräumen

Visual trap between abraten and abräumen

A purely visual mix-up. abraten ([ˈapˌʁaːtn̩]) and abräumen ([ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) 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 85304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abraten is recorded at frequency rank #41,622, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁaːtn̩]. abräumen is at rank #43,682, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən].

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 85304, this pair ranks #110,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abraten vs abräumen

Shared letters: abenr. Private to "abraten": t. Private to "abräumen": muä.

"abraten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "abräumen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abraten ← abarten · abbraten · abraetn · abratenn · abratne · abratten · abrraten · abrtaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abraten" and "abräumen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʁaːtn̩] versus [ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abraten" vs "abräumen" - which ranks higher?
"abraten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,622 in our German list, against #43,682 for "abräumen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "abraten" and "abräumen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abraten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abräumen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abraten" and "abräumen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abraten vs abtragen". 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 #110,291 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