AufgabevsAuflageWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,027
“Aufgabe” frequency rank
#2,579
“Auflage” frequency rank
3606
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufgabe Auflage
Definition etwas, das zu erledigen ist; Arbeitsauftrag besondere Bedingung, die jemand erfüllen muss, um die Erlaubnis für etwas anderes zu erhalten

Where the eye mixes Aufgabe and Auflage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Aufgabe
7 ch
Auflage

Visual trap between Aufgabe and Auflage

A purely visual mix-up. Aufgabe ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːbə]) and Auflage ([ˈaʊ̯fˌlaːɡə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufgabe is recorded at frequency rank #1,027, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːbə]. Auflage is at rank #2,579, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌlaːɡə].

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 3606, this pair ranks #1,999,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Aufgabe vs Auflage

Shared letters: aefgu. Private to "Aufgabe": b. Private to "Auflage": l.

"Aufgabe" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV  ·  "Auflage" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufgabeafugabe · aufagbe · auffgabe · aufgabbe · aufgaeb · aufgbae · aufggabe · augfabe
  • Auflageafulage · aufalge · aufflage · auflaeg · auflagge · auflgae · aufllage · aulfage

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Aufgabe" and "Auflage" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːbə] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌlaːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Aufgabe" or "Auflage" show up more?
"Aufgabe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,027 in our German list, against #2,579 for "Auflage". 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 "Aufgabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Auflage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufgabe" and "Auflage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aufgabe vs ausgab". 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 #1,999,810 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