absichernvsabzusichernTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,600
“absichern” frequency rank
#26,729
“abzusichern” frequency rank
49329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature absichern abzusichern
Definition jemanden oder etwas vor Gefahren schützen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs absichern

Where the eye mixes absichern and abzusichern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. absichern runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against abzusichern's 11 (VCCVCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
absichern
11 ch
abzusichern

Visual trap between absichern and abzusichern

A purely visual mix-up. absichern ([ˈapˌzɪçɐn]) and abzusichern ([ˈapt͡suˌzɪçɐn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

absichern is recorded at frequency rank #22,600, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌzɪçɐn]. abzusichern is at rank #26,729, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌzɪçɐn].

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 49329, this pair ranks #1,215,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of absichern vs abzusichern

Shared letters: abcehinrs. Private to "absichern": -. Private to "abzusichern": uz.

"absichern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "abzusichern" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • absichernabbsichern · abischern · abscihern · absicchern · absicehrn · absichenr · absichernn · absicherrn
  • abzusichernabbzusichern · abuzsichern · abzsuichern · abzuischern · abzuscihern · abzusicchern · abzusicehrn · abzusichenr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "absichern" and "abzusichern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌzɪçɐn] versus [ˈapt͡suˌzɪçɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "absichern" or "abzusichern"?
"absichern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,600 in our German list, against #26,729 for "abzusichern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "absichern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abzusichern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,215,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "absichern" and "abzusichern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "absichern vs Absicherung". 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 #1,215,573 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