apelvsÄpfelnWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,710
“apel” frequency rank
#29,444
“Äpfeln” frequency rank
78154
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apel Äpfeln
Definition Apfel als Frucht des Apfelbaums Dativ Plural des Substantivs Apfel

Letter map: apel vs Äpfeln

Shared letters muted; letters that set apel and Äpfeln apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. apel runs 4 letters (VCVC) against Äpfeln's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
apel
6 ch
Äpfeln

Spelling & dictionary notes on apel vs Äpfeln

apel and Äpfeln are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apel is recorded at frequency rank #48,710, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Äpfeln is at rank #29,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛp͡fəln].

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 78154, this pair ranks #244,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apel vs Äpfeln

Shared letters: elp. Private to "apel": a. Private to "Äpfeln": fnä.

"apel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Äpfeln" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apel ← aepl · pael

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apel" and "Äpfeln" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "apel" vs "Äpfeln" - which ranks higher?
"Äpfeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,444 in our German list, against #48,710 for "apel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "apel" and "Äpfeln". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Äpfeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apel" and "Äpfeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apel vs puzzles". 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 #244,661 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