ankommenvsanzukommenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,905
“ankommen” frequency rank
#28,061
“anzukommen” frequency rank
33966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ankommen anzukommen
Definition einen Ort, ein Ziel erreichen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ankommen

Where the eye mixes ankommen and anzukommen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
ankommen
10 ch
anzukommen

Why the eye confuses ankommen with anzukommen

A purely visual mix-up. ankommen ([ˈanˌkɔmən]) and anzukommen ([ˈant͡suˌkɔmən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ankommen is recorded at frequency rank #5,905, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌkɔmən]. anzukommen is at rank #28,061, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌkɔmən].

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 33966, this pair ranks #1,674,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ankommen vs anzukommen

Shared letters: aekmno. Private to "ankommen": -. Private to "anzukommen": uz.

"ankommen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "anzukommen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ankommenaknommen · ankkommen · ankmomen · ankomemn · ankomen · ankommenn · ankommne · annkommen
  • anzukommenannzukommen · anuzkommen · anzkuommen · anzukkommen · anzukmomen · anzukomemn · anzukomen · anzukommenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ankommen" and "anzukommen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌkɔmən] versus [ˈant͡suˌkɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ankommen" or "anzukommen" show up more?
"ankommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,905 in our German list, against #28,061 for "anzukommen". 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 "ankommen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzukommen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,674,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ankommen" and "anzukommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anzukommen vs auszukommen". 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 #1,674,069 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