anruftvsaufruftWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,817
“anruft” frequency rank
#29,938
“aufruft” frequency rank
49755
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anruft aufruft
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anrufen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufrufen

Where the eye mixes anruft and aufruft

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

6 ch
anruft
7 ch
aufruft

Visual trap between anruft and aufruft

A purely visual mix-up. anruft ([ˈanˌʁuːft]) and aufruft ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁuːft]) 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 49755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anruft is recorded at frequency rank #19,817, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʁuːft]. aufruft is at rank #29,938, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁuːft].

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 49755, this pair ranks #1,199,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anruft vs aufruft

Shared letters: afrtu. Private to "anruft": n. Private to "aufruft": -.

"anruft" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "aufruft" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anruftannruft · anrfut · anrruft · anrufft · anruftt · anrutf · anurft · arnuft
  • aufruftafuruft · auffruft · aufrfut · aufrruft · aufrufft · aufruftt · aufrutf · aufurft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anruft" and "aufruft" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌʁuːft] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁuːft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anruft" vs "aufruft" - which ranks higher?
"anruft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,817 in our German list, against #29,938 for "aufruft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anruft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufruft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,199,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anruft" and "aufruft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufruft vs Ausruf". 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 #1,199,572 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