angehaltenvsanzuhaltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,503
“angehalten” frequency rank
#26,302
“anzuhalten” frequency rank
35805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angehalten anzuhalten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs anhalten erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs anhalten

Where the eye mixes angehalten and anzuhalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. angehalten and anzuhalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
angehalten
10 ch
anzuhalten

Why the eye confuses angehalten with anzuhalten

A purely visual mix-up. angehalten ([ˈanɡəˌhaltn̩]) and anzuhalten ([ˈant͡suˌhaltn̩]) 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 35805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

angehalten is recorded at frequency rank #9,503, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanɡəˌhaltn̩]. anzuhalten is at rank #26,302, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌhaltn̩].

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 35805, this pair ranks #1,631,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angehalten vs anzuhalten

Shared letters: aehlnt. Private to "angehalten": g. Private to "anzuhalten": uz.

"angehalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "anzuhalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angehalten ← agnehalten · aneghalten · angeahlten · angehaletn · angehallten · angehaltenn · angehaltne · angehaltten
  • anzuhalten ← annzuhalten · anuzhalten · anzhualten · anzuahlten · anzuhaletn · anzuhallten · anzuhaltenn · anzuhaltne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "angehalten" for "anzuhalten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanɡəˌhaltn̩] versus [ˈant͡suˌhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "angehalten" or "anzuhalten"?
"angehalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,503 in our German list, against #26,302 for "anzuhalten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "angehalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzuhalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,631,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "angehalten" and "anzuhalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anschalten vs anzuhalten". 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 #1,631,095 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