AbschlagvsabschlagenTell them apart

Quick tell: Abschlag is a noun, abschlagen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Abschlag” is a noun and “abschlagen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,600
“Abschlag” frequency rank
#47,916
“abschlagen” frequency rank
83516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abschlag abschlagen
Definition Spielen des Balles aus der Hand mit dem Fuß durch den Torwart etwas mit Gewalt abtrennen

Where the eye mixes Abschlag and abschlagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Abschlag runs 8 letters (VCCCCCVC) against abschlagen's 10 (VCCCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Abschlag
10 ch
abschlagen

Look-alike desk: Abschlag vs abschlagen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abschlag is [ˈapʃlaːk] while abschlagen is [ˈapˌʃlaːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Abschlag” sits inside “abschlagen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abschlag is recorded at frequency rank #35,600, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapʃlaːk]. abschlagen is at rank #47,916, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃlaːɡn̩].

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 83516, this pair ranks #138,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Abschlag vs abschlagen

Shared letters: abcghls. Private to "Abschlag": -. Private to "abschlagen": en.

"Abschlag" · 8 letters · shape VCCCCCVC  ·  "abschlagen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abschlag ← abbschlag · abcshlag · abscchlag · abschalg · abschhlag · abschlagg · abschlga · abschllag
  • abschlagen ← abbschlagen · abcshlagen · abscchlagen · abschalgen · abschhlagen · abschlaegn · abschlagenn · abschlaggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abschlag" for "abschlagen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Abschlag" is a noun and "abschlagen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Abschlag" or "abschlagen" show up more?
"Abschlag" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,600 in our German list, against #47,916 for "abschlagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abschlag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abschlagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abschlag" and "abschlagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abschlagen vs ausschlagen". 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 #138,600 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