Which to use
“anheben” and “ansehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,469
- “anheben” frequency rank
- #1,758
- “ansehen” frequency rank
- 20227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | anheben | ansehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein wenig in die Höhe heben | den Blick bewusst auf etwas oder jemanden richten |
Where the eye mixes anheben and ansehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. anheben and ansehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses anheben with ansehen
A purely visual mix-up. anheben ([ˈanˌheːbn̩]) and ansehen ([ˈanˌzeːən]) 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 20227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
anheben is recorded at frequency rank #18,469, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌheːbn̩]. ansehen is at rank #1,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌzeːən].
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 20227, this pair ranks #1,899,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of anheben vs ansehen
Shared letters: aehn. Private to "anheben": b. Private to "ansehen": s.
"anheben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "ansehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "anheben" and "ansehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "anheben" or "ansehen"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "anheben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ansehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,899,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "anheben" and "ansehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anheben vs anheizen". 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 #1,899,957 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.