AnredevsanredenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Anrede is a noun, anreden is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Anrede” is a noun and “anreden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,618
“Anrede” frequency rank
#43,005
“anreden” frequency rank
65623
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anrede anreden
Definition eine Bezeichnung oder Benennung, mit der man Personen anspricht anfangen mit jemandem zu reden; mit jemandem ein Gespräch beginnen

Where the eye mixes Anrede and anreden

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

6 ch
Anrede
7 ch
anreden

Why the eye confuses Anrede with anreden

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Anrede is [ˈanˌʁeːdə] while anreden is [ˈanˌʁeːdn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Anrede” sits inside “anreden”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anrede is recorded at frequency rank #22,618, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʁeːdə]. 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 65623, this pair ranks #600,519 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Anrede vs anreden

Shared letters: adenr. Private to "Anrede": -. Private to "anreden": -.

"Anrede" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "anreden" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Anrede ← anerde · annrede · anrdee · anredde · anreed · anrrede · arnede · narede
  • anreden ← anerden · annreden · anrdeen · anredden · anredenn · anredne · anreedn · anrreden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Anrede" and "anreden" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Anrede" is a noun and "anreden" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Anrede" or "anreden" show up more?
"Anrede" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,618 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Anrede" 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 #600,519 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Anrede" 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 #600,519 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