anhörenvsanhörtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,143
“anhören” frequency rank
#14,732
“anhört” frequency rank
20875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anhören anhört
Definition jemandem (aufmerksam) zuhören; jemandem (vor allem vor Gericht) Gehör schenken 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anhören

Where the eye mixes anhören and anhört

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. anhören runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against anhört's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
anhören
6 ch
anhört

Visual trap between anhören and anhört

A purely visual mix-up. anhören ([ˈanˌhøːʁən]) and anhört ([ˈanˌhøːɐ̯t]) 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 20875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anhören is recorded at frequency rank #6,143, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhøːʁən]. anhört is at rank #14,732, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhøːɐ̯t].

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 20875, this pair ranks #1,892,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anhören vs anhört

Shared letters: ahnrö. Private to "anhören": e. Private to "anhört": t.

"anhören" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anhört" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anhören" and "anhört" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌhøːʁən] versus [ˈanˌhøːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anhören" vs "anhört" - which ranks higher?
"anhören" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,143 in our German list, against #14,732 for "anhört". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anhören" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anhört" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,892,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anhören" and "anhört" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abholt vs anhört". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,892,745 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