aufgehobenvsaufgezogenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,795
“aufgehoben” frequency rank
#16,089
“aufgezogen” frequency rank
19884
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgehoben aufgezogen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs aufheben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs aufziehen

Where the eye mixes aufgehoben and aufgezogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufgehoben and aufgezogen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
aufgehoben
10 ch
aufgezogen

Why the eye confuses aufgehoben with aufgezogen

A purely visual mix-up. aufgehoben ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌhoːbn̩]) and aufgezogen ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌt͡soːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgehoben is recorded at frequency rank #3,795, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌhoːbn̩]. aufgezogen is at rank #16,089, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌt͡soːɡn̩].

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 19884, this pair ranks #1,903,592 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufgehoben vs aufgezogen

Shared letters: aefgnou. Private to "aufgehoben": bh. Private to "aufgezogen": z.

"aufgehoben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC  ·  "aufgezogen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgehobenafugehoben · aufeghoben · auffgehoben · aufgehboen · aufgehhoben · aufgehobben · aufgehobenn · aufgehobne
  • aufgezogenafugezogen · aufegzogen · auffgezogen · aufgeozgen · aufgezgoen · aufgezoegn · aufgezogenn · aufgezoggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufgehoben" for "aufgezogen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌhoːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌt͡soːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufgehoben" vs "aufgezogen" - which ranks higher?
"aufgehoben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,795 in our German list, against #16,089 for "aufgezogen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgehoben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgezogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,903,592 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgehoben" and "aufgezogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aufgeboten vs aufgezogen". 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 #1,903,592 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