Which to use
“abfallen” and “ausfallen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,766
- “abfallen” frequency rank
- #7,011
- “ausfallen” frequency rank
- 43777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abfallen | ausfallen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich von etwas lösen und herunterfallen | nicht mehr zur Verfügung stehen |
Where the eye mixes abfallen and ausfallen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses abfallen with ausfallen
A purely visual mix-up. abfallen ([ˈapˌfalən]) and ausfallen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌfalən]) 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 43777, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abfallen is recorded at frequency rank #36,766, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌfalən]. ausfallen is at rank #7,011, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfalən].
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 43777, this pair ranks #1,407,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abfallen vs ausfallen
Shared letters: aefln. Private to "abfallen": b. Private to "ausfallen": su.
"abfallen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "ausfallen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abfallen" for "ausfallen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abfallen" or "ausfallen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abfallen" and "ausfallen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abfallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausfallen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,407,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abfallen" and "ausfallen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abfallen vs abfällig". 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 #1,407,326 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.