abschaffenvsabschätzenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,028
“abschaffen” frequency rank
#22,599
“abschätzen” frequency rank
32627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abschaffen abschätzen
Definition etwas entfernen, außer Kraft setzen, beseitigen etwas oder jemanden prüfend schätzen, veranschlagen, taxieren

Where the eye mixes abschaffen and abschätzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abschaffen and abschätzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
abschaffen
10 ch
abschätzen

Why the eye confuses abschaffen with abschätzen

A purely visual mix-up. abschaffen ([ˈapˌʃafn̩]) and abschätzen ([ˈapˌʃɛt͡sn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abschaffen is recorded at frequency rank #10,028, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃafn̩]. abschätzen is at rank #22,599, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃɛt͡sn̩].

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 32627, this pair ranks #1,703,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abschaffen vs abschätzen

Shared letters: abcehns. Private to "abschaffen": f. Private to "abschätzen": tzä.

"abschaffen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC  ·  "abschätzen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abschaffen ← abbschaffen · abcshaffen · abscahffen · abscchaffen · abschafefn · abschafen · abschaffenn · abschaffne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abschaffen" and "abschätzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʃafn̩] versus [ˈapˌʃɛt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abschaffen" or "abschätzen"?
"abschaffen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,028 in our German list, against #22,599 for "abschätzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "abschaffen" and "abschätzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abschaffen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abschätzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,703,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abschaffen" and "abschätzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abschätzen vs Abschätzung". 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 #1,703,542 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