abzuholenvsabzulösenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,346
“abzuholen” frequency rank
#45,095
“abzulösen” frequency rank
61441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abzuholen abzulösen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs abholen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ablösen

Where the eye mixes abzuholen and abzulösen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abzuholen and abzulösen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
abzuholen
9 ch
abzulösen

Visual trap between abzuholen and abzulösen

A purely visual mix-up. abzuholen ([ˈapt͡suˌhoːlən]) and abzulösen ([ˈapt͡suˌløːzn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abzuholen is recorded at frequency rank #16,346, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌhoːlən]. abzulösen is at rank #45,095, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌløːzn̩].

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 61441, this pair ranks #749,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abzuholen vs abzulösen

Shared letters: abelnuz. Private to "abzuholen": ho. Private to "abzulösen": sö.

"abzuholen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "abzulösen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abzuholen ← abbzuholen · abuzholen · abzhuolen · abzuhholen · abzuhloen · abzuhoeln · abzuholenn · abzuhollen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abzuholen" and "abzulösen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapt͡suˌhoːlən] versus [ˈapt͡suˌløːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abzuholen" or "abzulösen" show up more?
"abzuholen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,346 in our German list, against #45,095 for "abzulösen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "abzuholen" and "abzulösen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abzuholen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abzulösen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #749,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abzuholen" and "abzulösen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzulesen vs abzulösen". 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 #749,633 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