AnfällevsAusfälleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,919
“Anfälle” frequency rank
#15,303
“Ausfälle” frequency rank
45222
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anfälle Ausfälle
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Anfall Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ausfall

Where the eye mixes Anfälle and Ausfälle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Anfälle runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against Ausfälle's 8 (VVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Anfälle
8 ch
Ausfälle

Visual trap between Anfälle and Ausfälle

A purely visual mix-up. Anfälle ([ˈanˌfɛlə]) and Ausfälle ([ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə]) 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 45222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anfälle is recorded at frequency rank #29,919, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌfɛlə]. Ausfälle is at rank #15,303, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə].

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 45222, this pair ranks #1,360,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Anfälle vs Ausfälle

Shared letters: aeflä. Private to "Anfälle": n. Private to "Ausfälle": su.

"Anfälle" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "Ausfälle" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Anfälle" and "Ausfälle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌfɛlə] versus [ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Anfälle" or "Ausfälle" show up more?
"Ausfälle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,303 in our German list, against #29,919 for "Anfälle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Anfälle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausfälle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,360,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Anfälle" and "Ausfälle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anale vs Anfälle". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,360,405 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