ansehenvsaussehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,758
“ansehen” frequency rank
#1,408
“aussehen” frequency rank
3166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ansehen aussehen
Definition den Blick bewusst auf etwas oder jemanden richten ein Bild nach außen abgeben

Where the eye mixes ansehen and aussehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
ansehen
8 ch
aussehen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ansehen ([ˈanˌzeːən]) and aussehen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌz̥eːən]) 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 3166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ansehen is recorded at frequency rank #1,758, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌzeːən]. aussehen is at rank #1,408, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌz̥eːən].

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 3166, this pair ranks #2,000,805 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ansehen vs aussehen

Shared letters: aehns. Private to "ansehen": -. Private to "aussehen": u.

"ansehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "aussehen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ansehenaneshen · annsehen · anseehn · ansehenn · ansehhen · ansehne · ansheen · anssehen
  • aussehenasusehen · ausehen · auseshen · ausseehn · aussehenn · aussehhen · aussehne · aussheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ansehen" and "aussehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌzeːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌz̥eːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ansehen" or "aussehen"?
"aussehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,408 in our German list, against #1,758 for "ansehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "ansehen" and "aussehen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ansehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aussehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,805 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ansehen" and "aussehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aussehen vs aussenden". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list