AbwahlvsAuswahlTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,003
“Abwahl” frequency rank
#1,152
“Auswahl” frequency rank
42155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abwahl Auswahl
Definition Wahl, bei der ein anderer Kandidat als der wieder kandidierende Amtsinhaber gewählt wird der Vorgang, bei dem etwas mit gewünschten Merkmalen aus einer Menge entnommen wird

Where the eye mixes Abwahl and Auswahl

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Abwahl runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against Auswahl's 7 (VVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Abwahl
7 ch
Auswahl

Visual trap between Abwahl and Auswahl

A purely visual mix-up. Abwahl ([ˈapˌvaːl]) and Auswahl ([ˈaʊ̯svaːl]) 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 42155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abwahl is recorded at frequency rank #41,003, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌvaːl]. Auswahl is at rank #1,152, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯svaːl].

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 42155, this pair ranks #1,457,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abwahl vs Auswahl

Shared letters: ahlw. Private to "Abwahl": b. Private to "Auswahl": su.

"Abwahl" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Auswahl" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abwahl ← abawhl · abbwahl · abwahhl · abwahll · abwalh · abwhal · abwwahl · awbahl
  • Auswahl ← asuwahl · ausawhl · ausswahl · auswahhl · auswahll · auswalh · auswhal · auswwahl

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abwahl" and "Auswahl" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvaːl] versus [ˈaʊ̯svaːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Abwahl" or "Auswahl" show up more?
"Auswahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,152 in our German list, against #41,003 for "Abwahl". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abwahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Auswahl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,457,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abwahl" and "Auswahl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abfall vs Abwahl". 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 #1,457,939 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