AltbautenvsAufbautenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,456
“Altbauten” frequency rank
#38,591
“Aufbauten” frequency rank
88047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Altbauten Aufbauten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Altbau Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Aufbau

Where the eye mixes Altbauten and Aufbauten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Altbauten
9 ch
Aufbauten

Look-alike desk: Altbauten vs Aufbauten

A purely visual mix-up. Altbauten ([ˈaltˌbaʊ̯tn̩]) and Aufbauten ([ˈaʊ̯fˌbaʊ̯tn̩]) 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 88047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Altbauten is recorded at frequency rank #49,456, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaltˌbaʊ̯tn̩]. Aufbauten is at rank #38,591, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌbaʊ̯tn̩].

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 88047, this pair ranks #72,963 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Altbauten vs Aufbauten

Shared letters: abentu. Private to "Altbauten": l. Private to "Aufbauten": f.

"Altbauten" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC  ·  "Aufbauten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Altbautenalbtauten · alltbauten · altabuten · altbatuen · altbauetn · altbautenn · altbautne · altbautten
  • Aufbautenafubauten · aubfauten · aufabuten · aufbatuen · aufbauetn · aufbautenn · aufbautne · aufbautten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Altbauten" for "Aufbauten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaltˌbaʊ̯tn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌbaʊ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Altbauten" or "Aufbauten" show up more?
"Aufbauten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,591 in our German list, against #49,456 for "Altbauten". 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 "Altbauten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Aufbauten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,963 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Altbauten" and "Aufbauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Altbauten vs Altlasten". 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 #72,963 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