aufdeckenvsaufweckenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,017
“aufdecken” frequency rank
#49,488
“aufwecken” frequency rank
72505
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufdecken aufwecken
Definition eine Decke zurückschlagen (zum Beispiel auf einem Bett) jemandes Schlaf beenden

Where the eye mixes aufdecken and aufwecken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufdecken and aufwecken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
aufdecken
9 ch
aufwecken

Look-alike desk: aufdecken vs aufwecken

A purely visual mix-up. aufdecken ([ˈaʊ̯fˌdɛkn̩]) and aufwecken ([ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛkn̩]) 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 - d in “aufdecken” becomes w in “aufwecken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72505, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufdecken is recorded at frequency rank #23,017, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌdɛkn̩]. aufwecken is at rank #49,488, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛkn̩].

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 72505, this pair ranks #386,539 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aufdecken vs aufwecken

Shared letters: acefknu. Private to "aufdecken": d. Private to "aufwecken": w.

"aufdecken" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "aufwecken" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufdecken ← afudecken · audfecken · aufdceken · aufddecken · aufdeccken · aufdecekn · aufdeckenn · aufdeckken
  • aufwecken ← afuwecken · aufewcken · auffwecken · aufwceken · aufweccken · aufwecekn · aufweckenn · aufweckken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aufdecken" and "aufwecken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌdɛkn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufdecken" vs "aufwecken" - which ranks higher?
"aufdecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,017 in our German list, against #49,488 for "aufwecken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufdecken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufwecken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #386,539 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufdecken" and "aufwecken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwecken vs aufwerten". 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 #386,539 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