Which to use
“abschreiben” and “anschreien” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,402
- “abschreiben” frequency rank
- #35,621
- “anschreien” frequency rank
- 59023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abschreiben | anschreien |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den Text eines anderen übernehmen, kopieren und ihn als eigenes Werk ausgeben | mit lauter Stimme (kritisierende) Worte an jemanden richten |
Where the eye mixes abschreiben and anschreien
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abschreiben runs 11 letters (VCCCCCVVCVC) against anschreien's 10 (VCCCCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: abschreiben vs anschreien
A purely visual mix-up. abschreiben ([ˈapˌʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and anschreien ([ˈanˌʃʁaɪ̯ən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abschreiben is recorded at frequency rank #23,402, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]. anschreien is at rank #35,621, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃʁaɪ̯ən].
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 59023, this pair ranks #840,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abschreiben vs anschreien
Shared letters: acehinrs. Private to "abschreiben": b. Private to "anschreien": -.
"abschreiben" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCCVVCVC · "anschreien" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abschreiben ← abbschreiben · abcshreiben · abscchreiben · abscheriben · abschhreiben · abschrebien · abschreibben · abschreibenn
- anschreien ← ancshreien · annschreien · anscchreien · anscherien · anschhreien · anschreein · anschreienn · anschreine
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "abschreiben" and "anschreien" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "abschreiben" or "anschreien" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abschreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anschreien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #840,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abschreiben" and "anschreien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abschreiben vs Abschreibung". 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 #840,276 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.