abzulösenvsauszulösenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,095
“abzulösen” frequency rank
#24,249
“auszulösen” frequency rank
69344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abzulösen auszulösen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ablösen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs auslösen

Where the eye mixes abzulösen and auszulösen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abzulösen runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCVC) against auszulösen's 10 (VVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
abzulösen
10 ch
auszulösen

Why the eye confuses abzulösen with auszulösen

A purely visual mix-up. abzulösen ([ˈapt͡suˌløːzn̩]) and auszulösen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌløːzn̩]) 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 69344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abzulösen is recorded at frequency rank #45,095, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌløːzn̩]. auszulösen is at rank #24,249, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌløːzn̩].

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 69344, this pair ranks #479,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abzulösen vs auszulösen

Shared letters: aelnsuzö. Private to "abzulösen": b. Private to "auszulösen": -.

"abzulösen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "auszulösen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abzulösen" for "auszulösen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapt͡suˌløːzn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌløːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abzulösen" or "auszulösen" show up more?
"auszulösen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,249 in our German list, against #45,095 for "abzulösen". 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 "abzulösen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszulösen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #479,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abzulösen" and "auszulösen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzulesen vs abzulösen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #479,459 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