anstehenvsanstehtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,802
“anstehen” frequency rank
#21,883
“ansteht” frequency rank
39685
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anstehen ansteht
Definition sich an das Ende einer Schlange stellen und warten, um an die Reihe zu kommen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs anstehen

Where the eye mixes anstehen and ansteht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. anstehen runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against ansteht's 7 (VCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anstehen
7 ch
ansteht

Visual trap between anstehen and ansteht

A purely visual mix-up. anstehen ([ˈanˌʃteːən]) and ansteht ([ˈanˌʃteːt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39685, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anstehen is recorded at frequency rank #17,802, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃteːən]. ansteht is at rank #21,883, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃteːt].

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 39685, this pair ranks #1,529,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anstehen vs ansteht

Shared letters: aehnst. Private to "anstehen": -. Private to "ansteht": -.

"anstehen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "ansteht" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anstehen ← annstehen · ansethen · ansstehen · ansteehn · anstehenn · anstehhen · anstehne · anstheen
  • ansteht ← annsteht · ansetht · anssteht · anstehht · anstehtt · ansteth · ansthet · anstteht

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anstehen" for "ansteht" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌʃteːən] versus [ˈanˌʃteːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "anstehen" or "ansteht" show up more?
"anstehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,802 in our German list, against #21,883 for "ansteht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anstehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ansteht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,529,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anstehen" and "ansteht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "andrehen vs anstehen". 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 #1,529,822 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