ähneltvsahntWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,797
“ähnelt” frequency rank
#18,151
“ahnt” frequency rank
29948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ähnelt ahnt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ähneln 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ahnen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ähnelt and ahnt apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ähnelt
4 ch
ahnt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ähnelt ([ˈɛːnl̩t]) and ahnt ([aːnt]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ähnelt is recorded at frequency rank #11,797, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɛːnl̩t]. ahnt is at rank #18,151, tagged as averb, pronounced [aːnt].

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 29948, this pair ranks #1,757,216 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ähnelt vs ahnt

Shared letters: hnt. Private to "ähnelt": elä. Private to "ahnt": a.

"ähnelt" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "ahnt" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ahntahhnt · ahnnt · ahntt · ahtn · hant

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ähnelt" and "ahnt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛːnl̩t] versus [aːnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ähnelt" or "ahnt"?
"ähnelt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,797 in our German list, against #18,151 for "ahnt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list