abzulenkenvsabzuwendenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,895
“abzulenken” frequency rank
#20,485
“abzuwenden” frequency rank
37380
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abzulenken abzuwenden
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ablenken erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs abwenden

Where the eye mixes abzulenken and abzuwenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abzulenken and abzuwenden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
abzulenken
10 ch
abzuwenden

Visual trap between abzulenken and abzuwenden

A purely visual mix-up. abzulenken ([ˈapt͡suˌlɛŋkn̩]) and abzuwenden ([ˈapt͡suˌvɛndn̩]) 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 37380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abzulenken is recorded at frequency rank #16,895, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌlɛŋkn̩]. abzuwenden is at rank #20,485, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌvɛndn̩].

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 37380, this pair ranks #1,591,752 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abzulenken vs abzuwenden

Shared letters: abenuz. Private to "abzulenken": kl. Private to "abzuwenden": dw.

"abzulenken" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "abzuwenden" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abzulenken ← abbzulenken · abuzlenken · abzluenken · abzuelnken · abzuleknen · abzulenekn · abzulenkenn · abzulenkken
  • abzuwenden ← abbzuwenden · abuzwenden · abzuewnden · abzuwednen · abzuwendden · abzuwendenn · abzuwendne · abzuwenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abzulenken" and "abzuwenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapt͡suˌlɛŋkn̩] versus [ˈapt͡suˌvɛndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abzulenken" vs "abzuwenden" - which ranks higher?
"abzulenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,895 in our German list, against #20,485 for "abzuwenden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abzulenken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abzuwenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,591,752 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abzulenken" and "abzuwenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzuweisen vs abzuwenden". 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 #1,591,752 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