Which to use
“anführen” and “anrühren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,799
- “anführen” frequency rank
- #49,463
- “anrühren” frequency rank
- 68262
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | anführen | anrühren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Gruppe von Personen oder etwas leiten | jemand oder etwas anfassen, berühren |
Where the eye mixes anführen and anrühren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses anführen with anrühren
A purely visual mix-up. anführen ([ˈanˌfyːʁən]) 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 differ by a single letter - f in “anführen” becomes r in “anrühren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
anführen is recorded at frequency rank #18,799, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfyːʁən]. 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 68262, this pair ranks #513,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of anführen vs anrühren
Shared letters: aehnrü. Private to "anführen": f. Private to "anrühren": -.
"anführen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "anrühren" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "anführen" and "anrühren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "anführen" or "anrühren" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "anführen" 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 #513,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "anführen" and "anrühren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anfahren vs anrühren". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #513,486 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.