anpassenvsanpasstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,268
“anpassen” frequency rank
#31,425
“anpasst” frequency rank
37693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anpassen anpasst
Definition etwas passend machen, angleichen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anpassen

Where the eye mixes anpassen and anpasst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. anpassen runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against anpasst's 7 (VCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anpassen
7 ch
anpasst

Look-alike desk: anpassen vs anpasst

A purely visual mix-up. anpassen ([ˈanˌpasn̩]) and anpasst ([ˈanˌpast]) 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 37693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anpassen is recorded at frequency rank #6,268, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌpasn̩]. anpasst is at rank #31,425, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌpast].

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 37693, this pair ranks #1,583,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anpassen vs anpasst

Shared letters: anps. Private to "anpassen": e. Private to "anpasst": t.

"anpassen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "anpasst" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anpassen ← anapssen · annpassen · anpasen · anpasesn · anpassenn · anpassne · anpaßen · anppassen
  • anpasst ← anapsst · annpasst · anpasstt · anpast · anpasts · anpaßt · anppasst · anpsast

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "anpassen" and "anpasst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌpasn̩] versus [ˈanˌpast]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "anpassen" or "anpasst" show up more?
"anpassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,268 in our German list, against #31,425 for "anpasst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anpassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anpasst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,583,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anpassen" and "anpasst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anfasst vs anpasst". 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 #1,583,528 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