Which to use
“an” is a preposition and “anno” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26
- “an” frequency rank
- #10,803
- “anno” frequency rank
- 10829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | an | anno |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bestimmt ein Ziel, einen Zielpunkt, mit welchem etw. in Berührung kommt | im Jahr |
Where the eye mixes an and anno
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: an vs anno
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: an is [an] while anno is [ˈano]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “an” sits inside “anno”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
an is recorded at frequency rank #26, classified as aprep, pronounced [an]. anno is at rank #10,803, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈano].
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 10829, this pair ranks #1,973,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of an vs anno
Shared letters: an. Private to "an": -. Private to "anno": o.
"an" · 2 letters · shape VC · "anno" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- anno ← ano · anon · nano
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "an" and "anno" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "an" vs "anno" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "an" and "anno" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "an" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,973,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "an" and "anno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anno vs Arnd". 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 #1,973,106 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.