angehenvsannehmenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,757
“angehen” frequency rank
#3,296
“annehmen” frequency rank
10053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angehen annehmen
Definition ein Gerät zum Laufen bringen, einschalten eine Vermutung anstellen

Where the eye mixes angehen and annehmen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. angehen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against annehmen's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
angehen
8 ch
annehmen

Visual trap between angehen and annehmen

A purely visual mix-up. angehen ([ˈanˌɡeːən]) and annehmen ([ˈanˌneːmən]) 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 10053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

angehen is recorded at frequency rank #6,757, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌɡeːən]. annehmen is at rank #3,296, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌneːmən].

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 10053, this pair ranks #1,977,012 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angehen vs annehmen

Shared letters: aehn. Private to "angehen": g. Private to "annehmen": m.

"angehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "annehmen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angehen ← agnehen · aneghen · angeehn · angehenn · angehhen · angehne · anggehen · angheen
  • annehmen ← anehmen · anenhmen · annehemn · annehhmen · annehmenn · annehmmen · annehmne · annemhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "angehen" for "annehmen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌɡeːən] versus [ˈanˌneːmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "angehen" or "annehmen"?
"annehmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,296 in our German list, against #6,757 for "angehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "angehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "annehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,012 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "angehen" and "annehmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Angeber vs angehen". 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 #1,977,012 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