anzugehenvsanzulegenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,492
“anzugehen” frequency rank
#12,655
“anzulegen” frequency rank
32147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anzugehen anzulegen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs angehen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs anlegen

Where the eye mixes anzugehen and anzulegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
anzugehen
9 ch
anzulegen

Look-alike desk: anzugehen vs anzulegen

A purely visual mix-up. anzugehen ([ˈant͡suˌɡeːən]) and anzulegen ([ˈant͡suˌleːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anzugehen is recorded at frequency rank #19,492, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌɡeːən]. anzulegen is at rank #12,655, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌleːɡn̩].

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 32147, this pair ranks #1,713,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anzugehen vs anzulegen

Shared letters: aegnuz. Private to "anzugehen": h. Private to "anzulegen": l.

"anzugehen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "anzulegen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anzugehenannzugehen · anuzgehen · anzguehen · anzueghen · anzugeehn · anzugehenn · anzugehhen · anzugehne
  • anzulegenannzulegen · anuzlegen · anzluegen · anzuelgen · anzuleegn · anzulegenn · anzuleggen · anzulegne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anzugehen" and "anzulegen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈant͡suˌɡeːən] versus [ˈant͡suˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "anzugehen" or "anzulegen" show up more?
"anzulegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,655 in our German list, against #19,492 for "anzugehen". 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 "anzugehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzulegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,713,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anzugehen" and "anzulegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anzugehen vs anzugehören". 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 #1,713,725 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