absehenvsansehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,726
“absehen” frequency rank
#1,758
“ansehen” frequency rank
28484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature absehen ansehen
Definition (zukünftige Ereignisse) voraussehen den Blick bewusst auf etwas oder jemanden richten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set absehen and ansehen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
absehen
7 ch
ansehen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. absehen ([ˈapˌz̥eːən]) and ansehen ([ˈanˌzeːən]) 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 “absehen” becomes n in “ansehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

absehen is recorded at frequency rank #26,726, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌz̥eːən]. ansehen is at rank #1,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌzeːən].

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 28484, this pair ranks #1,783,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of absehen vs ansehen

Shared letters: aehns. Private to "absehen": b. Private to "ansehen": -.

"absehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "ansehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • absehenabbsehen · abeshen · abseehn · absehenn · absehhen · absehne · absheen · abssehen
  • ansehenaneshen · annsehen · anseehn · ansehenn · ansehhen · ansehne · ansheen · anssehen

Frequency comparison

absehen#26,726
ansehen#1,758

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "absehen" and "ansehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌz̥eːən] versus [ˈanˌzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "absehen" or "ansehen"?
"ansehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,758 in our German list, against #26,726 for "absehen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering absehen vs ansehen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “absehen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list