anlegenvsansehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,453
“anlegen” frequency rank
#1,758
“ansehen” frequency rank
7211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anlegen ansehen
Definition etwas erschaffen oder erstellen den Blick bewusst auf etwas oder jemanden richten

Where the eye mixes anlegen and ansehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
anlegen
7 ch
ansehen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. anlegen ([ˈanˌleːɡn̩]) and ansehen ([ˈanˌzeːən]) 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 7211, 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]. ansehen is at rank #1,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌzeːən].

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 7211, this pair ranks #1,988,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anlegen vs ansehen

Shared letters: aen. Private to "anlegen": gl. Private to "ansehen": hs.

"anlegen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "ansehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anlegenalnegen · anelgen · anleegn · anlegenn · anleggen · anlegne · anlgeen · anllegen
  • ansehenaneshen · annsehen · anseehn · ansehenn · ansehhen · ansehne · ansheen · anssehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anlegen" and "ansehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈanˌzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anlegen" or "ansehen"?
"ansehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,758 in our German list, against #5,453 for "anlegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "anlegen" and "ansehen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ansehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anlegen" and "ansehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anlegen vs Anlieger". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list