abräumenvsabrufenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,682
“abräumen” frequency rank
#19,110
“abrufen” frequency rank
62792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abräumen abrufen
Definition Gegenstände von einer Oberfläche entfernen auf Daten zugreifen

Where the eye mixes abräumen and abrufen

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

8 ch
abräumen
7 ch
abrufen

Why the eye confuses abräumen with abrufen

A purely visual mix-up. abräumen ([ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) and abrufen ([ˈapˌʁuːfn̩]) 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 62792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abräumen is recorded at frequency rank #43,682, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən]. abrufen is at rank #19,110, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁuːfn̩].

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 62792, this pair ranks #700,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abräumen vs abrufen

Shared letters: abenru. Private to "abräumen": mä. Private to "abrufen": f.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrufen ← abbrufen · abrfuen · abrrufen · abruefn · abrufenn · abruffen · abrufne · aburfen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abräumen" for "abrufen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʁɔɪ̯mən] versus [ˈapˌʁuːfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abräumen" vs "abrufen" - which ranks higher?
"abrufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,110 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

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abräumen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abrufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #700,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abräumen" and "abrufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abräumen vs absaugen". 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 #700,072 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