AnklagevsanklagenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#5,564
“Anklage” frequency rank
#21,159
“anklagen” frequency rank
26723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anklage anklagen
Definition Antrag auf Strafverfolgung jemanden beschuldigen, unzulänglich zu sein oder etwas Schlechtes getan zu haben

Where the eye mixes Anklage and anklagen

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

7 ch
Anklage
8 ch
anklagen

Why the eye confuses Anklage with anklagen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Anklage is [ˈanˌklaːɡə] while anklagen is [ˈanˌklaːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Anklage” sits inside “anklagen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anklage is recorded at frequency rank #5,564, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌklaːɡə]. anklagen is at rank #21,159, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌklaːɡn̩].

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 26723, this pair ranks #1,813,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Anklage vs anklagen

Shared letters: aegkln. Private to "Anklage": -. Private to "anklagen": -.

"Anklage" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "anklagen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Anklage ← aknlage · ankalge · ankklage · anklaeg · anklagge · anklgae · ankllage · anlkage
  • anklagen ← aknlagen · ankalgen · ankklagen · anklaegn · anklagenn · anklaggen · anklagne · anklgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Anklage" for "anklagen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Anklage" is a noun and "anklagen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Anklage" or "anklagen" show up more?
"Anklage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,564 in our German list, against #21,159 for "anklagen". 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 "Anklage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anklagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,813,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Anklage" and "anklagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abklären vs anklagen". 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 #1,813,484 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