Which to use
“Abruf” is a noun and “anruft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,869
- “Abruf” frequency rank
- #19,817
- “anruft” frequency rank
- 45686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Abruf | anruft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aufforderung zum Verlassen einer Position, eines Amtes | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anrufen |
Where the eye mixes Abruf and anruft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Abruf runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against anruft's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Abruf and anruft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abruf is [ˈapˌʁuːf] while anruft is [ˈanˌʁuːft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Abruf is recorded at frequency rank #25,869, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌʁuːf]. anruft is at rank #19,817, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʁuːft].
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 45686, this pair ranks #1,344,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Abruf vs anruft
Shared letters: afru. Private to "Abruf": b. Private to "anruft": nt.
"Abruf" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "anruft" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Abruf" for "anruft" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Abruf" or "anruft"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Abruf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anruft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,344,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Abruf" and "anruft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abruf vs abtun". 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 #1,344,593 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.