ansprechenvsAnsprüchenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#6,891
“ansprechen” frequency rank
#12,022
“Ansprüchen” frequency rank
18913
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ansprechen Ansprüchen
Definition anfangen mit jemandem zu sprechen; mit jemandem ein Gespräch beginnen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Anspruch

Where the eye mixes ansprechen and Ansprüchen

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

10 ch
ansprechen
10 ch
Ansprüchen

Why the eye confuses ansprechen with Ansprüchen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ansprechen is [ˈanˌʃpʁɛçn̩] while Ansprüchen is [ˈanˌʃpʁʏçn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “ansprechen” becomes ü in “Ansprüchen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ansprechen is recorded at frequency rank #6,891, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃpʁɛçn̩]. Ansprüchen is at rank #12,022, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌʃpʁʏçn̩].

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 18913, this pair ranks #1,913,605 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ansprechen vs Ansprüchen

Shared letters: acehnprs. Private to "ansprechen": -. Private to "Ansprüchen": ü.

"ansprechen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC  ·  "Ansprüchen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ansprechen ← annsprechen · anpsrechen · ansperchen · anspprechen · ansprcehen · ansprecchen · ansprecehn · ansprechenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ansprechen" and "Ansprüchen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ansprechen" is a verb and "Ansprüchen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ansprechen" or "Ansprüchen" show up more?
"ansprechen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,891 in our German list, against #12,022 for "Ansprüchen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ansprechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ansprüchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,913,605 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ansprechen" and "Ansprüchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ansprüchen vs Anspruchs". 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 #1,913,605 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