AuffahrtvsAusfahrtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,445
“Auffahrt” frequency rank
#12,863
“Ausfahrt” frequency rank
38308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Auffahrt Ausfahrt
Definition ansteigender Straßenabschnitt, der zu etwas hinführt Stelle, an der man etwas fahrend verlassen kann

Where the eye mixes Auffahrt and Ausfahrt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Auffahrt and Ausfahrt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Auffahrt
8 ch
Ausfahrt

Why the eye confuses Auffahrt with Ausfahrt

A purely visual mix-up. Auffahrt ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfaːɐ̯t]) and Ausfahrt ([ˈaʊ̯sˌfaːɐ̯t]) 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 “Auffahrt” becomes s in “Ausfahrt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Auffahrt is recorded at frequency rank #25,445, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌfaːɐ̯t]. Ausfahrt is at rank #12,863, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfaːɐ̯t].

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 38308, this pair ranks #1,567,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Auffahrt vs Ausfahrt

Shared letters: afhrtu. Private to "Auffahrt": -. Private to "Ausfahrt": s.

"Auffahrt" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCC  ·  "Ausfahrt" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Auffahrt ← afufahrt · aufafhrt · aufahrt · auffahhrt · auffahrrt · auffahrtt · auffahtr · auffarht
  • Ausfahrt ← asufahrt · aufsahrt · ausafhrt · ausfahhrt · ausfahrrt · ausfahrtt · ausfahtr · ausfarht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Auffahrt" and "Ausfahrt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfaːɐ̯t] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌfaːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Auffahrt" or "Ausfahrt"?
"Ausfahrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,863 in our German list, against #25,445 for "Auffahrt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Auffahrt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausfahrt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,567,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Auffahrt" and "Ausfahrt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auffahrt vs aufführt". 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 #1,567,351 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