Which to use
“antreiben” and “auftreiben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,339
- “antreiben” frequency rank
- #35,635
- “auftreiben” frequency rank
- 77974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | antreiben | auftreiben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden dazu motivieren, etwas zu tun | nach Suche finden |
Where the eye mixes antreiben and auftreiben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. antreiben runs 9 letters (VCCCVVCVC) against auftreiben's 10 (VVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses antreiben with auftreiben
A purely visual mix-up. antreiben ([ˈanˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and auftreiben ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) 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 77974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
antreiben is recorded at frequency rank #42,339, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. auftreiben is at rank #35,635, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩].
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 77974, this pair ranks #248,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of antreiben vs auftreiben
Shared letters: abeinrt. Private to "antreiben": -. Private to "auftreiben": fu.
"antreiben" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "auftreiben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- antreiben ← anntreiben · anrteiben · anteriben · antrebien · antreibben · antreibenn · antreibne · antreiebn
- auftreiben ← afutreiben · aufftreiben · aufrteiben · aufteriben · auftrebien · auftreibben · auftreibenn · auftreibne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "antreiben" for "auftreiben" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "antreiben" or "auftreiben" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "antreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "auftreiben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "antreiben" and "auftreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "antreiben vs austreiben". 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 #248,654 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.