anzugehörenvsanzuhörenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,945
“anzugehören” frequency rank
#21,526
“anzuhören” frequency rank
69471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anzugehören anzuhören
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs angehören erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs anhören

Where the eye mixes anzugehören and anzuhören

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. anzugehören runs 11 letters (VCCVCVCVCVC) against anzuhören's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
anzugehören
9 ch
anzuhören

Why the eye confuses anzugehören with anzuhören

A purely visual mix-up. anzugehören ([ˈant͡suɡəˌhøːʁən]) and anzuhören ([ˈant͡suˌhøːʁən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anzugehören is recorded at frequency rank #47,945, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suɡəˌhøːʁən]. anzuhören is at rank #21,526, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌhøːʁən].

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 69471, this pair ranks #475,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of anzugehören vs anzuhören

Shared letters: aehnruzö. Private to "anzugehören": g. Private to "anzuhören": -.

"anzugehören" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCVC  ·  "anzuhören" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anzugehören" for "anzuhören" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈant͡suɡəˌhøːʁən] versus [ˈant͡suˌhøːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anzugehören" vs "anzuhören" - which ranks higher?
"anzuhören" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,526 in our German list, against #47,945 for "anzugehören". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "anzugehören" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anzuhören" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #475,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anzugehören" and "anzuhören" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anrühren vs anzuhören". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #475,581 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