abratenvsanbratenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,622
“abraten” frequency rank
#32,407
“anbraten” frequency rank
74029
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abraten anbraten
Definition jemandem raten, etwas nicht zu tun ein wenig braten; kurz (bei hoher Temperatur) braten

Where the eye mixes abraten and anbraten

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

7 ch
abraten
8 ch
anbraten

Look-alike desk: abraten vs anbraten

A purely visual mix-up. abraten ([ˈapˌʁaːtn̩]) and anbraten ([ˈanˌbʁaːtn̩]) 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 74029, 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]. anbraten is at rank #32,407, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌbʁaːtn̩].

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 74029, this pair ranks #344,307 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abraten vs anbraten

Shared letters: abenrt. Private to "abraten": -. Private to "anbraten": -.

"abraten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anbraten" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abraten ← abarten · abbraten · abraetn · abratenn · abratne · abratten · abrraten · abrtaen
  • anbraten ← abnraten · anbarten · anbbraten · anbraetn · anbratenn · anbratne · anbratten · anbrraten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abraten" and "anbraten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʁaːtn̩] versus [ˈanˌbʁaːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abraten" vs "anbraten" - which ranks higher?
"anbraten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,407 in our German list, against #41,622 for "abraten". 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 "abraten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anbraten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #344,307 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abraten" and "anbraten" 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 #344,307 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