Which to use
“auffahren” and “ausfahren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,969
- “auffahren” frequency rank
- #40,393
- “ausfahren” frequency rank
- 78362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | auffahren | ausfahren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | beim Fahren gegen die Rückseite des vorausfahrenden Fahrzeugs oder gegen ein Hindernis prallen; auf Grund laufen | (jemanden) mit einem Fahrzeug, Kinderwagen, Rollstuhl oder Ähnlichem auf einen Ausflug, eine Ausfahrt mitnehmen |
Where the eye mixes auffahren and ausfahren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. auffahren and ausfahren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses auffahren with ausfahren
A purely visual mix-up. auffahren ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfaːʁən]) and ausfahren ([ˈaʊ̯sˌfaːʁən]) 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 “auffahren” becomes s in “ausfahren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
auffahren is recorded at frequency rank #37,969, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌfaːʁən]. ausfahren is at rank #40,393, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfaːʁən].
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 78362, this pair ranks #239,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of auffahren vs ausfahren
Shared letters: aefhnru. Private to "auffahren": -. Private to "ausfahren": s.
"auffahren" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "ausfahren" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "auffahren" and "ausfahren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "auffahren" or "ausfahren"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "auffahren" and "ausfahren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "auffahren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausfahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #239,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "auffahren" and "ausfahren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausfahren vs Ausfahrten". 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 #239,998 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.