Which to use
“Amsel” and “appel” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,326
- “Amsel” frequency rank
- #25,889
- “appel” frequency rank
- 68215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Amsel | appel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | großer, schwarzer Singvogel mit gelbem Schnabel aus der Familie der Drosseln | Apfel |
Where the eye mixes Amsel and appel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Amsel and appel follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Amsel with appel
A purely visual mix-up. Amsel ([ˈamzəl]) and appel ([ˈɑpəɫ]) 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 68215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Amsel is recorded at frequency rank #42,326, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈamzəl]. appel is at rank #25,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɑpəɫ].
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 68215, this pair ranks #515,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Amsel vs appel
Shared letters: ael. Private to "Amsel": ms. Private to "appel": p.
"Amsel" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "appel" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Amsel" and "appel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Amsel" or "appel"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Amsel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "appel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Amsel" and "appel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amsel 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 #515,035 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.