AbwaschvsabwaschenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,686
“Abwasch” frequency rank
#32,896
“abwaschen” frequency rank
76582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abwasch abwaschen
Definition das Reinigen (von Geschirr) mit Wasser sowie meist mit Reinigungsmitteln etwas (zum Beispiel Dreck) durch Waschen mit Wasser und meist mit Reinigungsmitteln entfernen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Abwasch and abwaschen apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Abwasch
9 ch
abwaschen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abwasch is [ˈapˌvaʃ] while abwaschen is [ˈapˌvaʃn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Abwasch” sits inside “abwaschen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abwasch is recorded at frequency rank #43,686, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌvaʃ]. abwaschen is at rank #32,896, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaʃn̩].

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 76582, this pair ranks #280,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Abwasch vs abwaschen

Shared letters: abchsw. Private to "Abwasch": -. Private to "abwaschen": en.

"Abwasch" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "abwaschen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abwaschabawsch · abbwasch · abwacsh · abwascch · abwaschh · abwashc · abwassch · abwsach
  • abwaschenabawschen · abbwaschen · abwacshen · abwascchen · abwascehn · abwaschenn · abwaschhen · abwaschne

Frequency comparison

Abwasch#43,686
abwaschen#32,896

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Abwasch" and "abwaschen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Abwasch" is a noun and "abwaschen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Abwasch" or "abwaschen"?
"abwaschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,896 in our German list, against #43,686 for "Abwasch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Abwasch vs abwaschen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Abwasch”; for a verb, it's “abwaschen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Abwasch” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list