AbwahlvsAnzahlWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,003
“Abwahl” frequency rank
#1,191
“Anzahl” frequency rank
42194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abwahl Anzahl
Definition Wahl, bei der ein anderer Kandidat als der wieder kandidierende Amtsinhaber gewählt wird einige; ein gewisser Anteil einer Gesamtzahl

Where the eye mixes Abwahl and Anzahl

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Abwahl and Anzahl follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Abwahl
6 ch
Anzahl

Visual trap between Abwahl and Anzahl

A purely visual mix-up. Abwahl ([ˈapˌvaːl]) and Anzahl ([ˈanˌt͡saːl]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abwahl is recorded at frequency rank #41,003, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌvaːl]. Anzahl is at rank #1,191, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌt͡saːl].

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 42194, this pair ranks #1,456,767 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abwahl vs Anzahl

Shared letters: ahl. Private to "Abwahl": bw. Private to "Anzahl": nz.

"Abwahl" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Anzahl" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abwahl ← abawhl · abbwahl · abwahhl · abwahll · abwalh · abwhal · abwwahl · awbahl
  • Anzahl ← anazhl · annzahl · anzahhl · anzahll · anzalh · anzhal · anzzahl · aznahl

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abwahl" for "Anzahl" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvaːl] versus [ˈanˌt͡saːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abwahl" vs "Anzahl" - which ranks higher?
"Anzahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,191 in our German list, against #41,003 for "Abwahl". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abwahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anzahl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,456,767 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abwahl" and "Anzahl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abfall vs Abwahl". 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 #1,456,767 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