Which to use
“Altbau” and “Ausbau” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,516
- “Altbau” frequency rank
- #3,170
- “Ausbau” frequency rank
- 24686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Altbau | Ausbau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | älteres Gebäude, welches noch vor einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt — in der Regel noch vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg — fertiggestellt worden ist | planmäßige Vergrößerung, Erweiterung von etwas Bestehendem |
Where the eye mixes Altbau and Ausbau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Altbau and Ausbau
A purely visual mix-up. Altbau ([ˈaltˌbaʊ̯]) and Ausbau ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Altbau is recorded at frequency rank #21,516, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaltˌbaʊ̯]. Ausbau is at rank #3,170, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯].
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 24686, this pair ranks #1,844,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Altbau vs Ausbau
Shared letters: abu. Private to "Altbau": lt. Private to "Ausbau": s.
"Altbau" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVV · "Ausbau" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Altbau" and "Ausbau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Altbau" or "Ausbau" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Altbau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Ausbau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,844,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Altbau" and "Ausbau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Alban vs Altbau". 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 #1,844,158 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.