anheizenvsAnreisenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: anheizen is a verb, Anreisen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“anheizen” is a verb and “Anreisen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,941
“anheizen” frequency rank
#28,516
“Anreisen” frequency rank
76457
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anheizen Anreisen
Definition ein Feuer in einer Feuerstelle (beispielsweise einem Herd, Kamin) anzünden Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anreise

Where the eye mixes anheizen and Anreisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. anheizen and Anreisen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
anheizen
8 ch
Anreisen

Why the eye confuses anheizen with Anreisen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: anheizen is [ˈanˌhaɪ̯t͡sn̩] while Anreisen is [ˈanˌʁaɪ̯zn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76457, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anheizen is recorded at frequency rank #47,941, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhaɪ̯t͡sn̩]. Anreisen is at rank #28,516, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʁaɪ̯zn̩].

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 76457, this pair ranks #283,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of anheizen vs Anreisen

Shared letters: aein. Private to "anheizen": hz. Private to "Anreisen": rs.

"anheizen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "Anreisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anheizen ← ahneizen · anehizen · anheiezn · anheizenn · anheizne · anheizzen · anhezien · anhheizen
  • Anreisen ← anerisen · annreisen · anreiesn · anreisenn · anreisne · anreissen · anresien · anriesen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "anheizen" and "Anreisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "anheizen" is a verb and "Anreisen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "anheizen" or "Anreisen" show up more?
"Anreisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,516 in our German list, against #47,941 for "anheizen". 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 "anheizen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anreisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #283,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anheizen" and "Anreisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anreden vs Anreisen". 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 #283,420 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