abarbeitenvsausarbeitenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,418
“abarbeiten” frequency rank
#31,438
“ausarbeiten” frequency rank
61856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abarbeiten ausarbeiten
Definition ein auferlegtes Arbeitspensum bearbeiten etwas, das als Entwurf schon vorhanden ist, bis ins Detail fertig machen

Where the eye mixes abarbeiten and ausarbeiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abarbeiten runs 10 letters (VCVCCVVCVC) against ausarbeiten's 11 (VVCVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
abarbeiten
11 ch
ausarbeiten

Why the eye confuses abarbeiten with ausarbeiten

A purely visual mix-up. abarbeiten ([ˈapʔaʁˌbaɪ̯tn̩]) and ausarbeiten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʔaʁbaɪ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abarbeiten is recorded at frequency rank #30,418, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapʔaʁˌbaɪ̯tn̩]. ausarbeiten is at rank #31,438, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʔaʁbaɪ̯tn̩].

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 61856, this pair ranks #734,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abarbeiten vs ausarbeiten

Shared letters: abeinrt. Private to "abarbeiten": -. Private to "ausarbeiten": su.

"abarbeiten" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausarbeiten" · 11 letters · shape VVCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abarbeiten ← aabrbeiten · ababreiten · abarbbeiten · abarbeietn · abarbeitenn · abarbeitne · abarbeitten · abarbetien
  • ausarbeiten ← asuarbeiten · auasrbeiten · ausabreiten · ausarbbeiten · ausarbeietn · ausarbeitenn · ausarbeitne · ausarbeitten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abarbeiten" and "ausarbeiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapʔaʁˌbaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʔaʁbaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abarbeiten" or "ausarbeiten" show up more?
"abarbeiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,418 in our German list, against #31,438 for "ausarbeiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abarbeiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausarbeiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #734,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abarbeiten" and "ausarbeiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abarbeiten vs abzuarbeiten". 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 #734,113 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