AbstrichevsanstrichWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#26,727
“Abstriche” frequency rank
#19,489
“anstrich” frequency rank
46216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abstriche anstrich
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Abstrich 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anstreichen

Where the eye mixes Abstriche and anstrich

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Abstriche
8 ch
anstrich

Look-alike desk: Abstriche vs anstrich

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abstriche is [ˈapˌʃtʁɪçə] while anstrich is [ˈanˌʃtʁɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abstriche is recorded at frequency rank #26,727, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌʃtʁɪçə]. anstrich is at rank #19,489, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtʁɪç].

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 46216, this pair ranks #1,326,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abstriche vs anstrich

Shared letters: achirst. Private to "Abstriche": be. Private to "anstrich": n.

"Abstriche" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCVCCV  ·  "anstrich" · 8 letters · shape VCCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abstricheabbstriche · absrtiche · absstriche · abstirche · abstrcihe · abstricche · abstriceh · abstrichhe
  • anstrichannstrich · ansrtich · ansstrich · anstirch · anstrcih · anstricch · anstrichh · anstrihc

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abstriche" for "anstrich" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Abstriche" is a noun and "anstrich" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Abstriche" or "anstrich" show up more?
"anstrich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,489 in our German list, against #26,727 for "Abstriche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abstriche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anstrich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,326,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abstriche" and "anstrich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ansprach vs anstrich". 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 #1,326,638 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