an

[an]

/[an]/ prep

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“an” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #26) as a preposition. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#26
frequency rank, German
6,976
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - bestimmt ein Ziel, einen Zielpunkt, mit welchem etw. in Berührung kommt

Corpus desk

Index DE-an · an · German

an · rank #26 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #26
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,976
  • PHOTO-FINISH er

Nearest frequency peer: er (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “an”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “an” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

an vs at
50% similar
an vs as
50% similar
an vs AP
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for an
PropertyValue
Headwordan
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPreposition
IPA[an]
Letters2
Frequency rank#26
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “an” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). an lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for an is neighbouring look-alikes ("at", "as", …), not just typos; it is apreposition pronounced [an]. Frequency #26 among 6,976 “A” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

an doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "at", "as", "AP", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is an, spelled A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    bestimmt ein Ziel, einen Zielpunkt, mit welchem etw. in Berührung kommt
  2. 2
    bestimmt einen Ort, mit dem etw. in Berührung ist
  3. 3
    bestimmt einen Zeitpunkt
  4. 4
    zeigt eine virtuelle Richtung an

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how an appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Er hängte das Bild an die Wand.
  2. Das Bild hing an der Wand.

This word in other languages

to(English)en(Español)à(Français)em(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "an"?
"an" is spelled A-N. The IPA pronunciation is [an].
What does "an" mean?
As a preposition, "an" means: bestimmt ein Ziel, einen Zielpunkt, mit welchem etw. in Berührung kommt
What words are commonly confused with "an"?
"an" is commonly confused with "at", "as", "AP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "an"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "an" is [an]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "an" come from?
"an" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list