anklagenvsansagenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,159
“anklagen” frequency rank
#23,010
“ansagen” frequency rank
44169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anklagen ansagen
Definition jemanden beschuldigen, unzulänglich zu sein oder etwas Schlechtes getan zu haben den nächsten Künstler, Film oder Titel ankündigen

Where the eye mixes anklagen and ansagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. anklagen runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against ansagen's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anklagen
7 ch
ansagen

Why the eye confuses anklagen with ansagen

A purely visual mix-up. anklagen ([ˈanˌklaːɡn̩]) and ansagen ([ˈanˌzaːɡn̩]) 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 44169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anklagen is recorded at frequency rank #21,159, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌklaːɡn̩]. ansagen is at rank #23,010, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌzaːɡn̩].

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 44169, this pair ranks #1,394,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anklagen vs ansagen

Shared letters: aegn. Private to "anklagen": kl. Private to "ansagen": s.

"anklagen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "ansagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anklagen ← aknlagen · ankalgen · ankklagen · anklaegn · anklagenn · anklaggen · anklagne · anklgaen
  • ansagen ← anasgen · annsagen · ansaegn · ansagenn · ansaggen · ansagne · ansgaen · anssagen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anklagen" and "ansagen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌklaːɡn̩] versus [ˈanˌzaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anklagen" or "ansagen"?
"anklagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,159 in our German list, against #23,010 for "ansagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anklagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ansagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,394,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anklagen" and "ansagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "absaugen vs ansagen". 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 #1,394,763 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