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What is the difference in usage between einschätzen and abschätzen?

In the online "Pons" dictionary, they both mean to assess, to estimate with the addition of to judge for einschätzen, which doesn't help differentiate much.

In which different situations would they be used?

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    Related: What is the difference between “schätzen” and “abschätzen”?
    – user9551
    Jul 22, 2015 at 23:01
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    "abschätzen" implies approximating a value on a given scale. "einschätzen" implies classifying an entity into a category. You would use the former for predicting how long something will take, but the latter to assess whether zou want to be someone's friend.
    – Kilian Foth
    Jul 23, 2015 at 10:18

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Einschätzen is used when you are evaluating something, e.g.:

die Situation einschätzen = judge/assess the situation

Abschätzen, on the other hand, is used when you are trying to estimate something, e.g.:

die Anzahl der Sterne abschätzen = estimate the quantity of stars

So, einschätzen is used as to assess or to judge and abschätzen as estimate.

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  • Hello and welcome! Up vote for the good examples! I think "assess" and "appraise", which you used in your translation are better than "evaluate".
    – Ludi
    Jul 23, 2015 at 6:20
  • Hello and thanks for the warm welcome ;) true you could be right .. also thanks for the edit!
    – Viking
    Jul 23, 2015 at 6:44
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    There are cases, though, where you can use "abschätzen" instead of "einschätzen". For instance, everyone would understand "Kannst Du schon abschätzen, wann Du kommst?". I can't think of an example for using "einschätzen" instead of "abschätzen" though.
    – Philipp
    Jul 23, 2015 at 7:36

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