angebenvsaufgebenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,142
“angeben” frequency rank
#4,249
“aufgeben” frequency rank
10391
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angeben aufgeben
Definition Mitteilung machen: hinweisen, mitteilen, behaupten etwas Sinnloses beenden, aufhören, einstellen; etwas beenden, obwohl der Sinn im Weitermachen besteht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set angeben and aufgeben apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
angeben
8 ch
aufgeben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. angeben ([ˈanˌɡeːbn̩]) and aufgeben ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːbn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10391, 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]. aufgeben is at rank #4,249, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːbn̩].

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 10391, this pair ranks #1,975,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angeben vs aufgeben

Shared letters: abegn. Private to "angeben": -. Private to "aufgeben": fu.

"angeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "aufgeben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angebenagneben · anegben · angbeen · angebben · angebenn · angebne · angeebn · anggeben
  • aufgebenafugeben · aufegben · auffgeben · aufgbeen · aufgebben · aufgebenn · aufgebne · aufgeebn

Frequency comparison

angeben#6,142
aufgeben#4,249

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "angeben" and "aufgeben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "angeben" or "aufgeben"?
"aufgeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,249 in our German list, against #6,142 for "angeben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering angeben vs aufgeben

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “angeben” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list