Which to use
“Anschreiben” is a noun and “anschreien” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,857
- “Anschreiben” frequency rank
- #35,621
- “anschreien” frequency rank
- 48478
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Anschreiben | anschreien |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einleitender Text einer Postzustellung, der Absender, Empfänger, Betreff und Grund beziehungsweise das Anliegen der Postzustellung enthält | mit lauter Stimme (kritisierende) Worte an jemanden richten |
Where the eye mixes Anschreiben and anschreien
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Anschreiben runs 11 letters (VCCCCCVVCVC) against anschreien's 10 (VCCCCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Anschreiben and anschreien
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Anschreiben is [ˈanˌʃʁaɪ̯bn̩] while anschreien is [ˈanˌʃʁaɪ̯ən]. 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 48478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Anschreiben is recorded at frequency rank #12,857, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]. anschreien is at rank #35,621, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃʁaɪ̯ən].
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 48478, this pair ranks #1,247,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Anschreiben vs anschreien
Shared letters: acehinrs. Private to "Anschreiben": b. Private to "anschreien": -.
"Anschreiben" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCCVVCVC · "anschreien" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Anschreiben ← ancshreiben · annschreiben · anscchreiben · anscheriben · anschhreiben · anschrebien · anschreibben · anschreibenn
- anschreien ← ancshreien · annschreien · anscchreien · anscherien · anschhreien · anschreein · anschreienn · anschreine
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Anschreiben" for "anschreien" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Anschreiben" or "anschreien" show up more?
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 "Anschreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anschreien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,247,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Anschreiben" and "anschreien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abschreiben vs anschreien". 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 #1,247,141 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.