Which to use
“abschalten” and “anschalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,980
- “abschalten” frequency rank
- #42,336
- “anschalten” frequency rank
- 51316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abschalten | anschalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Gerät oder eine Anlage außer Betrieb setzen, stromlos machen | durch einen Schalter aktivieren; mit einem Schalter anmachen |
Where the eye mixes abschalten and anschalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abschalten and anschalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between abschalten and anschalten
A purely visual mix-up. abschalten ([ˈapˌʃaltn̩]) and anschalten ([ˈanˌʃaltn̩]) 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 “abschalten” becomes n in “anschalten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abschalten is recorded at frequency rank #8,980, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃaltn̩]. anschalten is at rank #42,336, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃaltn̩].
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 51316, this pair ranks #1,140,131 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abschalten vs anschalten
Shared letters: acehlnst. Private to "abschalten": b. Private to "anschalten": -.
"abschalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC · "anschalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abschalten ← abbschalten · abcshalten · abscahlten · abscchalten · abschaletn · abschallten · abschaltenn · abschaltne
- anschalten ← ancshalten · annschalten · anscahlten · anscchalten · anschaletn · anschallten · anschaltenn · anschaltne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abschalten" for "anschalten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "abschalten" or "anschalten" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abschalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anschalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,140,131 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abschalten" and "anschalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anschalten vs anzuhalten". 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 #1,140,131 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.