AufgangvsAusgangConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,212
“Aufgang” frequency rank
#4,766
“Ausgang” frequency rank
43978
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufgang Ausgang
Definition aufwärtsführender Gang oder Treppe eine aus einem abgeschlossenen Anwesen, Raum oder Gebäude hinausführende Gebäudeöffnung, Tür (oder dgl.), durch die dieser Raum oder das Gebäude, von innen betrachtet, verlassen werden kann. Meist ist der Ausgang die gleiche Gebäudeöffnung wie der Eingang, der Ort, der die Möglichkeit, einen relativ und in sich abgeschlossenen Raum zu verlassen, bietet

Where the eye mixes Aufgang and Ausgang

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Aufgang and Ausgang follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Aufgang
7 ch
Ausgang

Visual trap between Aufgang and Ausgang

A purely visual mix-up. Aufgang ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaŋ]) and Ausgang ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡaŋ]) 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 “Aufgang” becomes s in “Ausgang”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufgang is recorded at frequency rank #39,212, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaŋ]. Ausgang is at rank #4,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌɡaŋ].

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 43978, this pair ranks #1,400,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Aufgang vs Ausgang

Shared letters: agnu. Private to "Aufgang": f. Private to "Ausgang": s.

"Aufgang" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "Ausgang" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufgang ← afugang · aufagng · auffgang · aufgagn · aufgangg · aufganng · aufggang · aufgnag
  • Ausgang ← asugang · augsang · ausagng · ausgagn · ausgangg · ausganng · ausggang · ausgnag

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Aufgang" and "Ausgang" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaŋ] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌɡaŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Aufgang" or "Ausgang" show up more?
"Ausgang" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,766 in our German list, against #39,212 for "Aufgang". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Aufgang" and "Ausgang" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Aufgang" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausgang" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,400,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufgang" and "Ausgang" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aufgang vs ausgangs". 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 #1,400,984 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