Which to use
“anfühlen” and “anrühren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,035
- “anfühlen” frequency rank
- #49,463
- “anrühren” frequency rank
- 74498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | anfühlen | anrühren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit den Fingern berühren | jemand oder etwas anfassen, berühren |
Where the eye mixes anfühlen and anrühren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. anfühlen and anrühren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between anfühlen and anrühren
A purely visual mix-up. anfühlen ([ˈanˌfyːlən]) and anrühren ([ˈanˌʁyːʁən]) 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 74498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
anfühlen is recorded at frequency rank #25,035, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfyːlən]. anrühren is at rank #49,463, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʁyːʁən].
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 74498, this pair ranks #331,891 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of anfühlen vs anrühren
Shared letters: aehnü. Private to "anfühlen": fl. Private to "anrühren": r.
"anfühlen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "anrühren" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "anfühlen" and "anrühren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "anfühlen" or "anrühren" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "anfühlen" and "anrühren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "anfühlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anrühren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #331,891 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "anfühlen" and "anrühren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anfahren vs anrühren". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #331,891 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.