aufgetretenvsausgetretenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: aufgetreten is a verb, ausgetreten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aufgetreten” is a verb and “ausgetreten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,612
“aufgetreten” frequency rank
#21,170
“ausgetreten” frequency rank
31782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgetreten ausgetreten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auftreten durch Drauftreten gelöscht, z.B. ein kleines Feuer, eine Zigarette

Where the eye mixes aufgetreten and ausgetreten

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

11 ch
aufgetreten
11 ch
ausgetreten

Visual trap between aufgetreten and ausgetreten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aufgetreten is [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtʁeːtn̩] while ausgetreten is [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - f in “aufgetreten” becomes s in “ausgetreten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgetreten is recorded at frequency rank #10,612, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌtʁeːtn̩]. ausgetreten is at rank #21,170, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌtʁeːtn̩].

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 31782, this pair ranks #1,721,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufgetreten vs ausgetreten

Shared letters: aegnrtu. Private to "aufgetreten": f. Private to "ausgetreten": s.

"aufgetreten" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCVC  ·  "ausgetreten" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgetreten ← afugetreten · aufegtreten · auffgetreten · aufgerteten · aufgeterten · aufgetreetn · aufgetretenn · aufgetretne
  • ausgetreten ← asugetreten · augsetreten · ausegtreten · ausgerteten · ausgeterten · ausgetreetn · ausgetretenn · ausgetretne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufgetreten" for "ausgetreten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aufgetreten" is a verb and "ausgetreten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "aufgetreten" vs "ausgetreten" - which ranks higher?
"aufgetreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,612 in our German list, against #21,170 for "ausgetreten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgetreten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgetreten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,721,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgetreten" and "ausgetreten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgetreten vs ausgetreten". 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 #1,721,177 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