anschauevsanschauenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,417
“anschaue” frequency rank
#2,942
“anschauen” frequency rank
26359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anschaue anschauen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anschauen den Blick bewusst auf etwas oder jemanden richten

Where the eye mixes anschaue and anschauen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. anschaue runs 8 letters (VCCCCVVV) against anschauen's 9 (VCCCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anschaue
9 ch
anschauen

Look-alike desk: anschaue vs anschauen

A purely visual mix-up. anschaue ([ˈanˌʃaʊ̯ə]) and anschauen ([ˈanˌʃaʊ̯ən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “anschaue” sits inside “anschauen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anschaue is recorded at frequency rank #23,417, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃaʊ̯ə]. anschauen is at rank #2,942, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃaʊ̯ən].

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 26359, this pair ranks #1,819,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anschaue vs anschauen

Shared letters: acehnsu. Private to "anschaue": -. Private to "anschauen": -.

"anschaue" · 8 letters · shape VCCCCVVV  ·  "anschauen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anschaue ← ancshaue · annschaue · anscahue · anscchaue · anschaeu · anschhaue · anschuae · anshcaue
  • anschauen ← ancshauen · annschauen · anscahuen · anscchauen · anschaeun · anschauenn · anschaune · anschhauen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anschaue" for "anschauen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌʃaʊ̯ə] versus [ˈanˌʃaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anschaue" or "anschauen"?
"anschauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,942 in our German list, against #23,417 for "anschaue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "anschaue" and "anschauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anschaue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anschauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,819,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anschaue" and "anschauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anschaue vs anschaust". 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 #1,819,377 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