AnsprachenvsansprechenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#33,436
“Ansprachen” frequency rank
#6,891
“ansprechen” frequency rank
40327
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ansprachen ansprechen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ansprache anfangen mit jemandem zu sprechen; mit jemandem ein Gespräch beginnen

Where the eye mixes Ansprachen and ansprechen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Ansprachen and ansprechen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
Ansprachen
10 ch
ansprechen

Why the eye confuses Ansprachen with ansprechen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ansprachen is [ˈanˌʃpʁaːxn̩] while ansprechen is [ˈanˌʃpʁɛçn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “Ansprachen” becomes e in “ansprechen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ansprachen is recorded at frequency rank #33,436, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʃpʁaːxn̩]. ansprechen is at rank #6,891, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃpʁɛçn̩].

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 40327, this pair ranks #1,511,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ansprachen vs ansprechen

Shared letters: acehnprs. Private to "Ansprachen": -. Private to "ansprechen": -.

"Ansprachen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC  ·  "ansprechen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ansprachen ← annsprachen · anpsrachen · ansparchen · anspprachen · anspracchen · anspracehn · ansprachenn · ansprachhen
  • ansprechen ← annsprechen · anpsrechen · ansperchen · anspprechen · ansprcehen · ansprecchen · ansprecehn · ansprechenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ansprachen" and "ansprechen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ansprachen" is a noun and "ansprechen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ansprachen" or "ansprechen"?
"ansprechen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,891 in our German list, against #33,436 for "Ansprachen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Ansprachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ansprechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,511,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ansprachen" and "ansprechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ansprach vs Ansprachen". 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 #1,511,684 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