Which to use
“abschalten” and “aushalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,980
- “abschalten” frequency rank
- #8,170
- “aushalten” frequency rank
- 17150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abschalten | aushalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Gerät oder eine Anlage außer Betrieb setzen, stromlos machen | eine unangenehme Situation ertragen oder ertragen können |
Where the eye mixes abschalten and aushalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abschalten runs 10 letters (VCCCCVCCVC) against aushalten's 9 (VVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: abschalten vs aushalten
A purely visual mix-up. abschalten ([ˈapˌʃaltn̩]) and aushalten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩]) 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 17150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abschalten is recorded at frequency rank #8,980, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃaltn̩]. aushalten is at rank #8,170, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩].
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 17150, this pair ranks #1,929,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abschalten vs aushalten
Shared letters: aehlnst. Private to "abschalten": bc. Private to "aushalten": u.
"abschalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVC · "aushalten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abschalten ← abbschalten · abcshalten · abscahlten · abscchalten · abschaletn · abschallten · abschaltenn · abschaltne
- aushalten ← asuhalten · auhsalten · ausahlten · aushaletn · aushallten · aushaltenn · aushaltne · aushaltten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abschalten" and "aushalten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abschalten" or "aushalten" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abschalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aushalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,929,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abschalten" and "aushalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abschalten vs anschalten". 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 #1,929,927 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.