AmpelnvsangelnTell them apart

Quick tell: Ampeln is a noun, angeln is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ampeln” is a noun and “angeln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,120
“Ampeln” frequency rank
#12,444
“angeln” frequency rank
31564
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ampeln angeln
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ampel dabei sein, versuchen, Fische zu fangen

Where the eye mixes Ampeln and angeln

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Ampeln and angeln follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Ampeln
6 ch
angeln

Look-alike desk: Ampeln vs angeln

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ampeln is [ˈampl̩n] while angeln is [ˈaŋl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ampeln is recorded at frequency rank #19,120, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈampl̩n]. angeln is at rank #12,444, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaŋl̩n].

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 31564, this pair ranks #1,725,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ampeln vs angeln

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "Ampeln": mp. Private to "angeln": g.

"Ampeln" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "angeln" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ampeln ← amepln · ammpeln · ampelln · ampelnn · ampenl · amplen · amppeln · apmeln
  • angeln ← agneln · anegln · angelln · angelnn · angenl · anggeln · anglen · anngeln

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ampeln" for "angeln" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ampeln" is a noun and "angeln" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Ampeln" or "angeln" show up more?
"angeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,444 in our German list, against #19,120 for "Ampeln". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ampeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "angeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,725,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ampeln" and "angeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ampeln vs apel". 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 #1,725,574 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