Which to use
“aufbrechen” and “ausbrechen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,821
- “aufbrechen” frequency rank
- #19,496
- “ausbrechen” frequency rank
- 35317
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufbrechen | ausbrechen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, das verschlossen ist, mit Gewalt öffnen | sich aus Mauern, Gittern, Gefängnis, Konventionen oder Ähnlichem befreien |
Where the eye mixes aufbrechen and ausbrechen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aufbrechen and ausbrechen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses aufbrechen with ausbrechen
A purely visual mix-up. aufbrechen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌbʁɛçn̩]) and ausbrechen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbʁɛçn̩]) 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 a single letter - f in “aufbrechen” becomes s in “ausbrechen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aufbrechen is recorded at frequency rank #15,821, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌbʁɛçn̩]. ausbrechen is at rank #19,496, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbʁɛçn̩].
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 35317, this pair ranks #1,642,854 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aufbrechen vs ausbrechen
Shared letters: abcehnru. Private to "aufbrechen": f. Private to "ausbrechen": s.
"aufbrechen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC · "ausbrechen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- aufbrechen ← afubrechen · aubfrechen · aufbbrechen · aufberchen · aufbrcehen · aufbrecchen · aufbrecehn · aufbrechenn
- ausbrechen ← asubrechen · aubsrechen · ausbbrechen · ausberchen · ausbrcehen · ausbrecchen · ausbrecehn · ausbrechenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aufbrechen" and "ausbrechen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "aufbrechen" or "ausbrechen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aufbrechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausbrechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,642,854 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufbrechen" and "ausbrechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausbrechen vs auszubrechen". 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 #1,642,854 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.