angebenvsanhabenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“angeben” and “anhaben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,142
“angeben” frequency rank
#24,606
“anhaben” frequency rank
30748
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angeben anhaben
Definition Mitteilung machen: hinweisen, mitteilen, behaupten ein Kleidungsstück am Körper tragen

Where the eye mixes angeben and anhaben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. angeben and anhaben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
angeben
7 ch
anhaben

Why the eye confuses angeben with anhaben

A purely visual mix-up. angeben ([ˈanˌɡeːbn̩]) and anhaben ([ˈanˌhaːbn̩]) 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 30748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

angeben is recorded at frequency rank #6,142, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌɡeːbn̩]. anhaben is at rank #24,606, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhaːbn̩].

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 30748, this pair ranks #1,741,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angeben vs anhaben

Shared letters: aben. Private to "angeben": g. Private to "anhaben": h.

"angeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anhaben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angeben ← agneben · anegben · angbeen · angebben · angebenn · angebne · angeebn · anggeben
  • anhaben ← ahnaben · anahben · anhabben · anhabenn · anhabne · anhaebn · anhbaen · anhhaben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "angeben" and "anhaben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈanˌhaːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "angeben" or "anhaben"?
"angeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,142 in our German list, against #24,606 for "anhaben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "angeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anhaben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,741,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "angeben" and "anhaben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhaken vs anhaben". 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 #1,741,850 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