aufgehenvsausgeheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,355
“aufgehen” frequency rank
#29,482
“ausgehe” frequency rank
45837
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgehen ausgehe
Definition sich öffnen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs ausgehen

Where the eye mixes aufgehen and ausgehe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aufgehen runs 8 letters (VVCCVCVC) against ausgehe's 7 (VVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
aufgehen
7 ch
ausgehe

Look-alike desk: aufgehen vs ausgehe

A purely visual mix-up. aufgehen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːən]) and ausgehe ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːə]) 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 45837, 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]. ausgehe is at rank #29,482, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːə].

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 45837, this pair ranks #1,339,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufgehen vs ausgehe

Shared letters: aeghu. Private to "aufgehen": fn. Private to "ausgehe": s.

"aufgehen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "ausgehe" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgehen ← afugehen · aufeghen · auffgehen · aufgeehn · aufgehenn · aufgehhen · aufgehne · aufggehen
  • ausgehe ← asugehe · augsehe · auseghe · ausgeeh · ausgehhe · ausggehe · ausghee · aussgehe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufgehen" for "ausgehe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌɡeːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufgehen" vs "ausgehe" - which ranks higher?
"aufgehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,355 in our German list, against #29,482 for "ausgehe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgehe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,339,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgehen" and "ausgehe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgehe vs ausleihe". 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 #1,339,579 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