anzugehenvsanzunehmenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,492
“anzugehen” frequency rank
#6,149
“anzunehmen” frequency rank
25641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anzugehen anzunehmen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs angehen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs annehmen

Where the eye mixes anzugehen and anzunehmen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. anzugehen runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCVC) against anzunehmen's 10 (VCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
anzugehen
10 ch
anzunehmen

Why the eye confuses anzugehen with anzunehmen

A purely visual mix-up. anzugehen ([ˈant͡suˌɡeːən]) and anzunehmen ([ˈant͡suˌneːmən]) 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 25641, 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]. anzunehmen is at rank #6,149, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌneːmən].

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 25641, this pair ranks #1,830,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anzugehen vs anzunehmen

Shared letters: aehnuz. Private to "anzugehen": g. Private to "anzunehmen": m.

"anzugehen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "anzunehmen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anzugehen ← annzugehen · anuzgehen · anzguehen · anzueghen · anzugeehn · anzugehenn · anzugehhen · anzugehne
  • anzunehmen ← annzunehmen · anuznehmen · anznuehmen · anzuenhmen · anzunehemn · anzunehhmen · anzunehmenn · anzunehmmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anzugehen" for "anzunehmen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈant͡suˌɡeːən] versus [ˈant͡suˌneːmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anzugehen" or "anzunehmen"?
"anzunehmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,149 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anzugehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzunehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,830,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anzugehen" and "anzunehmen" 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 #1,830,191 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