AbschreibungenvsAusschreibungenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,501
“Abschreibungen” frequency rank
#23,428
“Ausschreibungen” frequency rank
51929
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abschreibungen Ausschreibungen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Abschreibung Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ausschreibung

Where the eye mixes Abschreibungen and Ausschreibungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. Abschreibungen runs 14 letters (VCCCCCVVCVCCVC) against Ausschreibungen's 15 (VVCCCCCVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch
Abschreibungen
15 ch
Ausschreibungen

Look-alike desk: Abschreibungen vs Ausschreibungen

A purely visual mix-up. Abschreibungen ([ˈapʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋən]) and Ausschreibungen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋən]) 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 51929, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abschreibungen is recorded at frequency rank #28,501, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋən]. Ausschreibungen is at rank #23,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋən].

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 51929, this pair ranks #1,116,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abschreibungen vs Ausschreibungen

Shared letters: abceghinrsu. Private to "Abschreibungen": -. Private to "Ausschreibungen": -.

"Abschreibungen" · 14 letters · shape VCCCCCVVCVCCVC  ·  "Ausschreibungen" · 15 letters · shape VVCCCCCVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abschreibungen ← abbschreibungen · abcshreibungen · abscchreibungen · abscheribungen · abschhreibungen · abschrebiungen · abschreibbungen · abschreibnugen
  • Ausschreibungen ← asuschreibungen · auschreibungen · auscshreibungen · ausscchreibungen · ausscheribungen · ausschhreibungen · ausschrebiungen · ausschreibbungen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abschreibungen" and "Ausschreibungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Abschreibungen" or "Ausschreibungen" show up more?
"Ausschreibungen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,428 in our German list, against #28,501 for "Abschreibungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abschreibungen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausschreibungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,116,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abschreibungen" and "Ausschreibungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abschreibung vs Abschreibungen". 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 #1,116,548 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