AufnahmevsaufnehmenTell them apart

Quick tell: Aufnahme is a noun, aufnehmen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Aufnahme” is a noun and “aufnehmen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,048
“Aufnahme” frequency rank
#2,532
“aufnehmen” frequency rank
4580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufnahme aufnehmen
Definition das Beginnen von etwas etwas aufheben, an sich nehmen oder zu sich nehmen

Where the eye mixes Aufnahme and aufnehmen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Aufnahme runs 8 letters (VVCCVCCV) against aufnehmen's 9 (VVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Aufnahme
9 ch
aufnehmen

Why the eye confuses Aufnahme with aufnehmen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Aufnahme is [ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːmə] while aufnehmen is [ˈaʊ̯fˌneːmən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufnahme is recorded at frequency rank #2,048, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːmə]. aufnehmen is at rank #2,532, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌneːmən].

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 4580, this pair ranks #1,997,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Aufnahme vs aufnehmen

Shared letters: aefhmnu. Private to "Aufnahme": -. Private to "aufnehmen": -.

"Aufnahme" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV  ·  "aufnehmen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufnahme ← afunahme · aufanhme · auffnahme · aufnahem · aufnahhme · aufnahmme · aufnamhe · aufnhame
  • aufnehmen ← afunehmen · aufenhmen · auffnehmen · aufnehemn · aufnehhmen · aufnehmenn · aufnehmmen · aufnehmne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Aufnahme" and "aufnehmen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Aufnahme" is a noun and "aufnehmen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Aufnahme" or "aufnehmen"?
"Aufnahme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,048 in our German list, against #2,532 for "aufnehmen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Aufnahme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufnehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,997,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufnahme" and "aufnehmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufnehmen vs ausnehmen". 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 #1,997,319 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