angehenvsanzugehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,757
“angehen” frequency rank
#19,492
“anzugehen” frequency rank
26249
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angehen anzugehen
Definition ein Gerät zum Laufen bringen, einschalten erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs angehen

Where the eye mixes angehen and anzugehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. angehen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against anzugehen's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
angehen
9 ch
anzugehen

Visual trap between angehen and anzugehen

A purely visual mix-up. angehen ([ˈanˌɡeːən]) and anzugehen ([ˈant͡suˌɡeːən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26249, 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]. anzugehen is at rank #19,492, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌɡeːən].

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 26249, this pair ranks #1,820,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angehen vs anzugehen

Shared letters: aeghn. Private to "angehen": -. Private to "anzugehen": uz.

"angehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anzugehen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angehen ← agnehen · aneghen · angeehn · angehenn · angehhen · angehne · anggehen · angheen
  • anzugehen ← annzugehen · anuzgehen · anzguehen · anzueghen · anzugeehn · anzugehenn · anzugehhen · anzugehne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "angehen" and "anzugehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌɡeːən] versus [ˈant͡suˌɡeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "angehen" vs "anzugehen" - which ranks higher?
"angehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,757 in our German list, against #19,492 for "anzugehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "angehen" and "anzugehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "angehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzugehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,820,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "angehen" and "anzugehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anzugehen vs anzugehören". 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 #1,820,979 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