abzusetzenvsanzusetzenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,998
“abzusetzen” frequency rank
#26,751
“anzusetzen” frequency rank
49749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abzusetzen anzusetzen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs absetzen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ansetzen

Where the eye mixes abzusetzen and anzusetzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abzusetzen and anzusetzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
abzusetzen
10 ch
anzusetzen

Visual trap between abzusetzen and anzusetzen

A purely visual mix-up. abzusetzen ([ˈapt͡suˌz̥ɛt͡sn̩]) and anzusetzen ([ˈant͡suˌzɛt͡sn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “abzusetzen” becomes n in “anzusetzen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abzusetzen is recorded at frequency rank #22,998, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌz̥ɛt͡sn̩]. anzusetzen is at rank #26,751, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌzɛt͡sn̩].

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 49749, this pair ranks #1,199,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abzusetzen vs anzusetzen

Shared letters: aenstuz. Private to "abzusetzen": b. Private to "anzusetzen": -.

"abzusetzen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "anzusetzen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abzusetzenabbzusetzen · abuzsetzen · abzsuetzen · abzuestzen · abzusetezn · abzusettzen · abzusetzenn · abzusetzne
  • anzusetzenannzusetzen · anuzsetzen · anzsuetzen · anzuestzen · anzusetezn · anzusettzen · anzusetzenn · anzusetzne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abzusetzen" for "anzusetzen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapt͡suˌz̥ɛt͡sn̩] versus [ˈant͡suˌzɛt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abzusetzen" vs "anzusetzen" - which ranks higher?
"abzusetzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,998 in our German list, against #26,751 for "anzusetzen". 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 "abzusetzen" and "anzusetzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abzusetzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzusetzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,199,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abzusetzen" and "anzusetzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anzusetzen vs aufzusetzen". 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 #1,199,791 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