anführenvsausführenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,799
“anführen” frequency rank
#7,150
“ausführen” frequency rank
25949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anführen ausführen
Definition eine Gruppe von Personen oder etwas leiten in andere Länder verkaufen

Where the eye mixes anführen and ausführen

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

8 ch
anführen
9 ch
ausführen

Look-alike desk: anführen vs ausführen

A purely visual mix-up. anführen ([ˈanˌfyːʁən]) and ausführen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌfyːʁən]) 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 25949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anführen is recorded at frequency rank #18,799, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfyːʁən]. ausführen is at rank #7,150, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfyːʁən].

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 25949, this pair ranks #1,825,556 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anführen vs ausführen

Shared letters: aefhnrü. Private to "anführen": -. Private to "ausführen": su.

"anführen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "ausführen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anführen" and "ausführen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌfyːʁən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌfyːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anführen" vs "ausführen" - which ranks higher?
"ausführen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,150 in our German list, against #18,799 for "anführen". 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 "anführen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausführen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,825,556 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anführen" and "ausführen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anführen vs anrühren". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,825,556 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