ansvsAppsTell them apart

Quick tell: ans is a abbrev, Apps is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ans” is an abbrev and “Apps” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,467
“ans” frequency rank
#4,489
“Apps” frequency rank
5956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ans Apps
Definition an das Nominativ Plural des Substantivs App

Where the eye mixes ans and Apps

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ans
4 ch
Apps

Look-alike desk: ans vs Apps

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ans is [ans] while Apps is [ɛps]. 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 (abbrev vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ans is recorded at frequency rank #1,467, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ans]. Apps is at rank #4,489, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛps].

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 5956, this pair ranks #1,993,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ans vs Apps

Shared letters: as. Private to "ans": n. Private to "Apps": p.

"ans" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "Apps" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Appsappss · aps · apsp · paps

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ans" and "Apps" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ans" is an abbrev and "Apps" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ans" or "Apps"?
"ans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,467 in our German list, against #4,489 for "Apps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Apps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ans" and "Apps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Apps vs avis". 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 #1,993,172 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