anzeigenvsAnzügenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,793
“anzeigen” frequency rank
#38,580
“Anzügen” frequency rank
42373
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anzeigen Anzügen
Definition der Polizei oder Staatsanwaltschaft eine von jemandem verübte Straftat mitteilen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Anzug

Where the eye mixes anzeigen and Anzügen

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

8 ch
anzeigen
7 ch
Anzügen

Visual trap between anzeigen and Anzügen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: anzeigen is [ˈanˌt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩] while Anzügen is [ˈant͡syːɡn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42373, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anzeigen is recorded at frequency rank #3,793, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]. Anzügen is at rank #38,580, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈant͡syːɡn̩].

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 42373, this pair ranks #1,451,376 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anzeigen vs Anzügen

Shared letters: aegnz. Private to "anzeigen": i. Private to "Anzügen": ü.

"anzeigen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "Anzügen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anzeigen ← anezigen · annzeigen · anzegien · anzeiegn · anzeigenn · anzeiggen · anzeigne · anziegen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "anzeigen" and "Anzügen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "anzeigen" is a verb and "Anzügen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "anzeigen" or "Anzügen" show up more?
"anzeigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,793 in our German list, against #38,580 for "Anzügen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anzeigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anzügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,451,376 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anzeigen" and "Anzügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Anzügen vs anzutun". 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 #1,451,376 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