abfahren
[ˈapˌfaːʁən]
The verdict
“abfahren” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #25,020 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #25,020
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sich (fahrend, im Fahrzeug) von einem Ort wegbegeben
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abfahren |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈapˌfaːʁən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #25,020 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “abfahren” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for abfahren is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈapˌfaːʁən]. Corpus data places it at rank #25,020 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for abfahren, with forms such as "abafhren", "abbfahren", and "abfahern". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Abfahrt", "Affären", "anführen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is abfahren, spelled A-B-F-A-H-R-E-N.
Definition
- 1sich (fahrend, im Fahrzeug) von einem Ort wegbegeben
- 2etwas von einem Ort (fahrend, mit einem Fahrzeug) an einen anderen Ort bringen
- 3etwas (fahrend, bei der Fahrt, mit einem Fahrzeug) abtrennen
- 4eine bestimmte Strecke entlangfahren
- 5jemandem eine Abfuhr erteilen
- 6sehr gerne mögen
- 7nach unten, an einen tiefer gelegenen Ort – in die Tiefe (abwärts) –, fahren
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abafhren,abbfahren,abfahern,abfahhren,abfahrenn,abfahrne,abfahrren,abfarhen,abffahren,abfharen,afbahren,bafahren
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of abfahren - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "abfahren"?
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Using “abfahren”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is A-B-F-A-H-R-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈapˌfaːʁən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Abfahrt” - see the side-by-side comparison. abfahren vs Abfahrt
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.