Which to use
“abrufen” and “anrufen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,110
- “abrufen” frequency rank
- #4,017
- “anrufen” frequency rank
- 23127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abrufen | anrufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf Daten zugreifen | auf sich aufmerksam machen, indem man ruft; jemanden namentlich rufen |
Where the eye mixes abrufen and anrufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abrufen and anrufen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses abrufen with anrufen
A purely visual mix-up. abrufen ([ˈapˌʁuːfn̩]) and anrufen ([ˈanˌʁuːfn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “abrufen” becomes n in “anrufen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abrufen is recorded at frequency rank #19,110, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʁuːfn̩]. anrufen is at rank #4,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʁuːfn̩].
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 23127, this pair ranks #1,865,450 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abrufen vs anrufen
Shared letters: aefnru. Private to "abrufen": b. Private to "anrufen": -.
"abrufen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "anrufen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abrufen" and "anrufen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "abrufen" vs "anrufen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abrufen" and "anrufen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abrufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anrufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,865,450 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abrufen" and "anrufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abräumen vs abrufen". 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 #1,865,450 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.