auffallenvsAusfälleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: auffallen is a verb, Ausfälle is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“auffallen” is a verb and “Ausfälle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,660
“auffallen” frequency rank
#15,303
“Ausfälle” frequency rank
27963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auffallen Ausfälle
Definition Aufsehen erregen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ausfall

Where the eye mixes auffallen and Ausfälle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. auffallen runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against Ausfälle's 8 (VVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
auffallen
8 ch
Ausfälle

Why the eye confuses auffallen with Ausfälle

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: auffallen is [ˈaʊ̯fˌfalən] while Ausfälle is [ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auffallen is recorded at frequency rank #12,660, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌfalən]. Ausfälle is at rank #15,303, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə].

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 27963, this pair ranks #1,792,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auffallen vs Ausfälle

Shared letters: aeflu. Private to "auffallen": n. Private to "Ausfälle": sä.

"auffallen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "Ausfälle" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auffallen ← afufallen · aufafllen · aufallen · auffaleln · auffalen · auffallenn · auffallne · aufflalen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "auffallen" and "Ausfälle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "auffallen" is a verb and "Ausfälle" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "auffallen" vs "Ausfälle" - which ranks higher?
"auffallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,660 in our German list, against #15,303 for "Ausfälle". 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 "auffallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausfälle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,792,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auffallen" and "Ausfälle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ausfälle vs ausfüllt". 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 #1,792,898 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