AnklägervsAnlagenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,424
“Ankläger” frequency rank
#2,753
“Anlagen” frequency rank
34177
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ankläger Anlagen
Definition Person, die im Gericht die Anklage vertritt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anlage

Where the eye mixes Ankläger and Anlagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ankläger runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against Anlagen's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Ankläger
7 ch
Anlagen

Why the eye confuses Ankläger with Anlagen

A purely visual mix-up. Ankläger ([ˈanˌklɛːɡɐ]) and Anlagen ([ˈanˌlaːɡn̩]) 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 34177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ankläger is recorded at frequency rank #31,424, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌklɛːɡɐ]. Anlagen is at rank #2,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌlaːɡn̩].

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 34177, this pair ranks #1,669,362 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ankläger vs Anlagen

Shared letters: aegln. Private to "Ankläger": krä. Private to "Anlagen": -.

"Ankläger" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "Anlagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Anlagen ← alnagen · analgen · anlaegn · anlagenn · anlaggen · anlagne · anlgaen · anllagen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ankläger" for "Anlagen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌklɛːɡɐ] versus [ˈanˌlaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ankläger" or "Anlagen" show up more?
"Anlagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,753 in our German list, against #31,424 for "Ankläger". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Ankläger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anlagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,669,362 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ankläger" and "Anlagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "analoger vs Ankläger". 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 #1,669,362 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