aufgehenvsAufseherWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,355
“aufgehen” frequency rank
#23,022
“Aufseher” frequency rank
39377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgehen Aufseher
Definition sich öffnen jemand, der Dinge bewacht oder Vorgänge überwacht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aufgehen and Aufseher apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
aufgehen
8 ch
Aufseher

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aufgehen is [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːən] while Aufseher is [ˈaʊ̯fˌzeːɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgehen is recorded at frequency rank #16,355, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːən]. Aufseher is at rank #23,022, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌzeːɐ].

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 39377, this pair ranks #1,538,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufgehen vs Aufseher

Shared letters: aefhu. Private to "aufgehen": gn. Private to "Aufseher": rs.

"aufgehen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "Aufseher" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgehenafugehen · aufeghen · auffgehen · aufgeehn · aufgehenn · aufgehhen · aufgehne · aufggehen
  • Aufseherafuseher · aufesher · auffseher · aufseehr · aufseherr · aufsehher · aufsehre · aufsheer

Frequency comparison

aufgehen#16,355
Aufseher#23,022

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aufgehen" and "Aufseher" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aufgehen" is a verb and "Aufseher" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aufgehen" or "Aufseher"?
"aufgehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,355 in our German list, against #23,022 for "Aufseher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aufgehen vs Aufseher

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “aufgehen”; for a noun, it's “Aufseher”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aufgehen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list