ansvsaufsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,467
“ans” frequency rank
#1,005
“aufs” frequency rank
2472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ans aufs
Definition an das auf das

Where the eye mixes ans and aufs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ans
4 ch
aufs

Visual trap between ans and aufs

A purely visual mix-up. ans ([ans]) and aufs ([aʊ̯fs]) 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 2472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ans is recorded at frequency rank #1,467, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ans]. aufs is at rank #1,005, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [aʊ̯fs].

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 2472, this pair ranks #2,002,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ans vs aufs

Shared letters: as. Private to "ans": n. Private to "aufs": fu.

"ans" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "aufs" · 4 letters · shape VVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufsafus · auffs · aufss · ausf · uafs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ans" and "aufs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ans] versus [aʊ̯fs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ans" vs "aufs" - which ranks higher?
"aufs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,005 in our German list, against #1,467 for "ans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ans" and "aufs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ans vs AUD". 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 #2,002,271 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