aufgefahrenvsausgefahrenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,191
“aufgefahren” frequency rank
#47,967
“ausgefahren” frequency rank
84158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgefahren ausgefahren
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auffahren Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ausfahren

Where the eye mixes aufgefahren and ausgefahren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. aufgefahren and ausgefahren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
aufgefahren
11 ch
ausgefahren

Look-alike desk: aufgefahren vs ausgefahren

A purely visual mix-up. aufgefahren ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌfaːʁən]) and ausgefahren ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌfaːʁən]) 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 “aufgefahren” becomes s in “ausgefahren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgefahren is recorded at frequency rank #36,191, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌfaːʁən]. ausgefahren is at rank #47,967, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌfaːʁən].

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 84158, this pair ranks #128,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aufgefahren vs ausgefahren

Shared letters: aefghnru. Private to "aufgefahren": -. Private to "ausgefahren": s.

"aufgefahren" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC  ·  "ausgefahren" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgefahren ← afugefahren · aufegfahren · auffgefahren · aufgeafhren · aufgefahern · aufgefahhren · aufgefahrenn · aufgefahrne
  • ausgefahren ← asugefahren · augsefahren · ausegfahren · ausgeafhren · ausgefahern · ausgefahhren · ausgefahrenn · ausgefahrne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufgefahren" for "ausgefahren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌfaːʁən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌfaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufgefahren" or "ausgefahren"?
"aufgefahren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,191 in our German list, against #47,967 for "ausgefahren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgefahren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgefahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #128,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgefahren" and "ausgefahren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausfahren vs ausgefahren". 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 #128,215 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