AnrufervsanruftWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,496
“Anrufer” frequency rank
#19,817
“anruft” frequency rank
34313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anrufer anruft
Definition Person, welche aktiv mit einer anderen Person eine Sprechverbindung herstellt 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anrufen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Anrufer and anruft apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Anrufer
6 ch
anruft

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Anrufer is [ˈanˌʁuːfɐ] while anruft is [ˈanˌʁuːft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anrufer is recorded at frequency rank #14,496, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʁuːfɐ]. anruft is at rank #19,817, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʁuːft].

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 34313, this pair ranks #1,666,173 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Anrufer vs anruft

Shared letters: afnru. Private to "Anrufer": e. Private to "anruft": t.

"Anrufer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "anruft" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Anruferannrufer · anrfuer · anrrufer · anruefr · anruferr · anruffer · anrufre · anurfer
  • anruftannruft · anrfut · anrruft · anrufft · anruftt · anrutf · anurft · arnuft

Frequency comparison

Anrufer#14,496
anruft#19,817

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Anrufer" and "anruft" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Anrufer" is a noun and "anruft" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Anrufer" or "anruft"?
"Anrufer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,496 in our German list, against #19,817 for "anruft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Anrufer vs anruft

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Anrufer”; for a verb, it's “anruft”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Anrufer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list