abtretenvsaustretenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,152
“abtreten” frequency rank
#23,031
“austreten” frequency rank
43183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abtreten austreten
Definition mit einem Tritt entfernen seinen Platz/Bereich die Grenze überschreitend verlassen; aus etwas heraustreten, herausströmen, hervorquellen

Where the eye mixes abtreten and austreten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abtreten runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against austreten's 9 (VVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
abtreten
9 ch
austreten

Look-alike desk: abtreten vs austreten

A purely visual mix-up. abtreten ([ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩]) and austreten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁeːtn̩]) 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 43183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abtreten is recorded at frequency rank #20,152, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩]. austreten is at rank #23,031, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁeːtn̩].

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 43183, this pair ranks #1,426,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abtreten vs austreten

Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "abtreten": b. Private to "austreten": su.

"abtreten" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "austreten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abtreten ← abbtreten · abrteten · abterten · abtreetn · abtretenn · abtretne · abtretten · abtrreten
  • austreten ← asutreten · ausrteten · ausstreten · austerten · austreetn · austretenn · austretne · austretten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abtreten" for "austreten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abtreten" or "austreten"?
"abtreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,152 in our German list, against #23,031 for "austreten". 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 "abtreten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "austreten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,426,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abtreten" and "austreten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auftretens vs austreten". 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 #1,426,078 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