anzulegenvsauszulegenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,655
“anzulegen” frequency rank
#31,445
“auszulegen” frequency rank
44100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anzulegen auszulegen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs anlegen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs auslegen

Where the eye mixes anzulegen and auszulegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. anzulegen runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCVC) against auszulegen's 10 (VVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
anzulegen
10 ch
auszulegen

Visual trap between anzulegen and auszulegen

A purely visual mix-up. anzulegen ([ˈant͡suˌleːɡn̩]) and auszulegen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːɡn̩]) 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 44100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anzulegen is recorded at frequency rank #12,655, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈant͡suˌleːɡn̩]. auszulegen is at rank #31,445, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːɡn̩].

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 44100, this pair ranks #1,397,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anzulegen vs auszulegen

Shared letters: aeglnuz. Private to "anzulegen": -. Private to "auszulegen": s.

"anzulegen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "auszulegen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anzulegenannzulegen · anuzlegen · anzluegen · anzuelgen · anzuleegn · anzulegenn · anzuleggen · anzulegne
  • auszulegenasuzulegen · ausszulegen · ausuzlegen · auszluegen · auszuelgen · auszuleegn · auszulegenn · auszuleggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "anzulegen" and "auszulegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈant͡suˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anzulegen" or "auszulegen"?
"anzulegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,655 in our German list, against #31,445 for "auszulegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "anzulegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszulegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,397,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anzulegen" and "auszulegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszulegen vs auszusagen". 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 #1,397,041 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