anzuhebenvsaufzuhebenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#35,060
“anzuheben” frequency rank
#19,136
“aufzuheben” frequency rank
54196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anzuheben aufzuheben
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs anheben erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aufheben

Where the eye mixes anzuheben and aufzuheben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
anzuheben
10 ch
aufzuheben

Visual trap between anzuheben and aufzuheben

A purely visual mix-up. anzuheben ([ˈant͡suˌheːbn̩]) and aufzuheben ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌheːbn̩]) 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 54196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anzuheben is recorded at frequency rank #35,060, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌheːbn̩]. aufzuheben is at rank #19,136, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌheːbn̩].

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 54196, this pair ranks #1,028,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anzuheben vs aufzuheben

Shared letters: abehnuz. Private to "anzuheben": -. Private to "aufzuheben": f.

"anzuheben" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "aufzuheben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anzuhebenannzuheben · anuzheben · anzhueben · anzuehben · anzuhbeen · anzuhebben · anzuhebenn · anzuhebne
  • aufzuhebenafuzuheben · auffzuheben · aufuzheben · aufzhueben · aufzuehben · aufzuhbeen · aufzuhebben · aufzuhebenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "anzuheben" and "aufzuheben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈant͡suˌheːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌheːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "anzuheben" or "aufzuheben" show up more?
"aufzuheben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,136 in our German list, against #35,060 for "anzuheben". 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 "anzuheben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzuheben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,028,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anzuheben" and "aufzuheben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzuheben vs anzuheben". 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 #1,028,370 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