anlegenvsanredenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,453
“anlegen” frequency rank
#43,005
“anreden” frequency rank
48458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anlegen anreden
Definition etwas erschaffen oder erstellen anfangen mit jemandem zu reden; mit jemandem ein Gespräch beginnen

Where the eye mixes anlegen and anreden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. anlegen and anreden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
anlegen
7 ch
anreden

Look-alike desk: anlegen vs anreden

A purely visual mix-up. anlegen ([ˈanˌleːɡn̩]) and anreden ([ˈanˌʁeːdn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anlegen is recorded at frequency rank #5,453, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌleːɡn̩]. anreden is at rank #43,005, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʁeːdn̩].

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 48458, this pair ranks #1,247,863 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anlegen vs anreden

Shared letters: aen. Private to "anlegen": gl. Private to "anreden": dr.

"anlegen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anreden" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anlegen ← alnegen · anelgen · anleegn · anlegenn · anleggen · anlegne · anlgeen · anllegen
  • anreden ← anerden · annreden · anrdeen · anredden · anredenn · anredne · anreedn · anrreden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anlegen" for "anreden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈanˌʁeːdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anlegen" vs "anreden" - which ranks higher?
"anlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,453 in our German list, against #43,005 for "anreden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anreden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,247,863 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anlegen" and "anreden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "andrehen vs anreden". 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 #1,247,863 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