anmachenvsausmachenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,880
“anmachen” frequency rank
#6,393
“ausmachen” frequency rank
28273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anmachen ausmachen
Definition etwas durch Mischen zum Gebrauch vorbereiten ein Gerät (Lampe, Heizung, Elektrogerät etc.) abschalten, ein Feuer löschen

Where the eye mixes anmachen and ausmachen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. anmachen runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against ausmachen's 9 (VVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anmachen
9 ch
ausmachen

Visual trap between anmachen and ausmachen

A purely visual mix-up. anmachen ([ˈanˌmaxn̩]) and ausmachen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌmaxn̩]) 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 28273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anmachen is recorded at frequency rank #21,880, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌmaxn̩]. ausmachen is at rank #6,393, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌmaxn̩].

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 28273, this pair ranks #1,787,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anmachen vs ausmachen

Shared letters: acehmn. Private to "anmachen": -. Private to "ausmachen": su.

"anmachen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "ausmachen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anmachen ← amnachen · anamchen · anmacchen · anmacehn · anmachenn · anmachhen · anmachne · anmahcen
  • ausmachen ← asumachen · aumsachen · ausamchen · ausmacchen · ausmacehn · ausmachenn · ausmachhen · ausmachne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anmachen" and "ausmachen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌmaxn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌmaxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anmachen" or "ausmachen"?
"ausmachen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,393 in our German list, against #21,880 for "anmachen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anmachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausmachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,787,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anmachen" and "ausmachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Anmache vs anmachen". 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 #1,787,678 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