AnläufevsAnrufeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,704
“Anläufe” frequency rank
#10,222
“Anrufe” frequency rank
58926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anläufe Anrufe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anlauf Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anruf

Where the eye mixes Anläufe and Anrufe

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

7 ch
Anläufe
6 ch
Anrufe

Visual trap between Anläufe and Anrufe

A purely visual mix-up. Anläufe ([ˈanlɔɪ̯fə]) and Anrufe ([ˈanˌʁuːfə]) 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 58926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anläufe is recorded at frequency rank #48,704, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanlɔɪ̯fə]. Anrufe is at rank #10,222, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʁuːfə].

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 58926, this pair ranks #844,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Anläufe vs Anrufe

Shared letters: aefnu. Private to "Anläufe": . Private to "Anrufe": r.

"Anläufe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV  ·  "Anrufe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Anrufeannrufe · anrfue · anrrufe · anruef · anruffe · anurfe · arnufe · narufe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Anläufe" for "Anrufe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanlɔɪ̯fə] versus [ˈanˌʁuːfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Anläufe" or "Anrufe"?
"Anrufe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,222 in our German list, against #48,704 for "Anläufe". 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 "Anläufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anrufe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #844,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Anläufe" and "Anrufe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Anlässe vs Anläufe". 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 #844,026 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