AbständenvsabstattenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#11,161
“Abständen” frequency rank
#47,917
“abstatten” frequency rank
59078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abständen abstatten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Abstand etwas offiziell, formell, traditionell, aus Pflichterfüllung tun

Where the eye mixes Abständen and abstatten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Abständen
9 ch
abstatten

Visual trap between Abständen and abstatten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abständen is [ˈapˌʃtɛndn̩] while abstatten is [ˈapˌʃtatn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abständen is recorded at frequency rank #11,161, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌʃtɛndn̩]. abstatten is at rank #47,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃtatn̩].

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 59078, this pair ranks #838,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abständen vs abstatten

Shared letters: abenst. Private to "Abständen": . Private to "abstatten": -.

"Abständen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "abstatten" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abstattenabbstatten · absattten · absstatten · abstaten · abstatetn · abstattenn · abstattne · absttaten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abständen" and "abstatten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Abständen" is a noun and "abstatten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Abständen" or "abstatten"?
"Abständen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,161 in our German list, against #47,917 for "abstatten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abständen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abstatten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #838,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abständen" and "abstatten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abstatten vs abstauben". 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 #838,176 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