aufgebautevsausgebautWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,937
“aufgebaute” frequency rank
#5,245
“ausgebaut” frequency rank
35182
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgebaute ausgebaut
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs aufgebaut in einem planmäßig vergrößerten/erweiterten Zustand

Where the eye mixes aufgebaute and ausgebaut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufgebaute runs 10 letters (VVCCVCVVCV) against ausgebaut's 9 (VVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
aufgebaute
9 ch
ausgebaut

Visual trap between aufgebaute and ausgebaut

A purely visual mix-up. aufgebaute ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌbaʊ̯tə]) and ausgebaut ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌbaʊ̯t]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgebaute is recorded at frequency rank #29,937, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌbaʊ̯tə]. ausgebaut is at rank #5,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌbaʊ̯t].

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 35182, this pair ranks #1,646,044 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufgebaute vs ausgebaut

Shared letters: abegtu. Private to "aufgebaute": f. Private to "ausgebaut": s.

"aufgebaute" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCV  ·  "ausgebaut" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgebaute ← afugebaute · aufegbaute · auffgebaute · aufgbeaute · aufgeabute · aufgebatue · aufgebauet · aufgebautte
  • ausgebaut ← asugebaut · augsebaut · ausegbaut · ausgbeaut · ausgeabut · ausgebatu · ausgebautt · ausgebbaut

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufgebaute" for "ausgebaut" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌbaʊ̯tə] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌbaʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "aufgebaute" or "ausgebaut" show up more?
"ausgebaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,245 in our German list, against #29,937 for "aufgebaute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgebaute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgebaut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,646,044 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgebaute" and "ausgebaut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufgebaute vs ausgebaute". 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 #1,646,044 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