Which to use
“ask” is a verb and “aus” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,832
- “ask” frequency rank
- #32
- “aus” frequency rank
- 20864
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ask | aus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Frage stellen, fragen | von drinnen nach draußen |
Where the eye mixes ask and aus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ask with aus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ask is [ɑːsk] while aus is [aʊ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ask is recorded at frequency rank #20,832, classified as averb, pronounced [ɑːsk]. aus is at rank #32, tagged as aprep, pronounced [aʊ̯s].
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 20864, this pair ranks #1,892,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ask vs aus
Shared letters: as. Private to "ask": k. Private to "aus": u.
"ask" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "aus" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ask" and "aus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "ask" or "aus" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ask" and "aus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ask" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,892,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ask" and "aus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ask vs AUD". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,892,865 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.