Which to use
“abschaffen” and “anschaffen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,028
- “abschaffen” frequency rank
- #20,498
- “anschaffen” frequency rank
- 30526
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abschaffen | anschaffen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas entfernen, außer Kraft setzen, beseitigen | etwas für sich erwerben |
Where the eye mixes abschaffen and anschaffen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abschaffen and anschaffen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between abschaffen and anschaffen
A purely visual mix-up. abschaffen ([ˈapˌʃafn̩]) and anschaffen ([ˈanˌʃafn̩]) 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 “abschaffen” becomes n in “anschaffen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30526, 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]. anschaffen is at rank #20,498, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃafn̩].
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 30526, this pair ranks #1,746,103 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abschaffen vs anschaffen
Shared letters: acefhns. Private to "abschaffen": b. Private to "anschaffen": -.
"abschaffen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC · "anschaffen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abschaffen ← abbschaffen · abcshaffen · abscahffen · abscchaffen · abschafefn · abschafen · abschaffenn · abschaffne
- anschaffen ← ancshaffen · annschaffen · anscahffen · anscchaffen · anschafefn · anschafen · anschaffenn · anschaffne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abschaffen" for "anschaffen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "abschaffen" or "anschaffen" show up more?
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 "abschaffen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anschaffen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,746,103 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abschaffen" and "anschaffen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anschaffen vs anschalten". 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 #1,746,103 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.