aufgetauchtvsauftauchtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,722
“aufgetaucht” frequency rank
#10,044
“auftaucht” frequency rank
17766
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgetaucht auftaucht
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auftauchen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs auftauchen

Where the eye mixes aufgetaucht and auftaucht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aufgetaucht runs 11 letters (VVCCVCVVCCC) against auftaucht's 9 (VVCCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
aufgetaucht
9 ch
auftaucht

Why the eye confuses aufgetaucht with auftaucht

A purely visual mix-up. aufgetaucht ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtaʊ̯xt]) and auftaucht ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xt]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgetaucht is recorded at frequency rank #7,722, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtaʊ̯xt]. auftaucht is at rank #10,044, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xt].

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 17766, this pair ranks #1,924,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufgetaucht vs auftaucht

Shared letters: acfhtu. Private to "aufgetaucht": eg. Private to "auftaucht": -.

"aufgetaucht" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCCC  ·  "auftaucht" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgetaucht ← afugetaucht · aufegtaucht · auffgetaucht · aufgeatucht · aufgetacuht · aufgetauccht · aufgetauchht · aufgetauchtt
  • auftaucht ← afutaucht · aufatucht · aufftaucht · auftacuht · auftauccht · auftauchht · auftauchtt · auftaucth

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aufgetaucht" and "auftaucht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtaʊ̯xt] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufgetaucht" or "auftaucht"?
"aufgetaucht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,722 in our German list, against #10,044 for "auftaucht". 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 "aufgetaucht" and "auftaucht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgetaucht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auftaucht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgetaucht" and "auftaucht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgetaucht vs aufgetaucht". 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 #1,924,486 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