Which to use
“absagen” is a verb and “Anlagen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,793
- “absagen” frequency rank
- #2,753
- “Anlagen” frequency rank
- 13546
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | absagen | Anlagen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Angekündigtes widerrufen, eine Veranstaltung oder sonstiges nicht stattfinden lassen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anlage |
Where the eye mixes absagen and Anlagen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. absagen and Anlagen 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 absagen with Anlagen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: absagen is [ˈapˌzaːɡn̩] while Anlagen is [ˈanˌlaːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
absagen is recorded at frequency rank #10,793, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌzaːɡn̩]. Anlagen is at rank #2,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌlaːɡn̩].
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 13546, this pair ranks #1,957,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of absagen vs Anlagen
Shared letters: aegn. Private to "absagen": bs. Private to "Anlagen": l.
"absagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "Anlagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "absagen" for "Anlagen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "absagen" or "Anlagen"?
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 "absagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Anlagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "absagen" and "Anlagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "absagen 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 #1,957,290 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.