ahntevsAnkeConfusable pair

Quick tell: ahnte is a verb, Anke is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ahnte” is a verb and “Anke” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,244
“ahnte” frequency rank
#16,626
“Anke” frequency rank
38870
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ahnte Anke
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ahnen weiblicher Vorname

Where the eye mixes ahnte and Anke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ahnte
4 ch
Anke

Look-alike desk: ahnte vs Anke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ahnte is [ˈaːntə] while Anke is [ˈaŋkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ahnte is recorded at frequency rank #22,244, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaːntə]. Anke is at rank #16,626, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈaŋkə].

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 38870, this pair ranks #1,552,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ahnte vs Anke

Shared letters: aen. Private to "ahnte": ht. Private to "Anke": k.

"ahnte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Anke" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ahnteahhnte · ahnet · ahnnte · ahntte · ahtne · anhte · hante
  • Ankeanek · ankke · annke · nake

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ahnte" for "Anke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ahnte" is a verb and "Anke" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ahnte" or "Anke" show up more?
"Anke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,626 in our German list, against #22,244 for "ahnte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ahnte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,552,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ahnte" and "Anke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ahnden vs ahnte". 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 #1,552,445 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