Which to use
“aufhalten” and “aushalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,679
- “aufhalten” frequency rank
- #8,170
- “aushalten” frequency rank
- 13849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufhalten | aushalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden/etwas nicht weitergehen/weiterfortschreiten lassen | eine unangenehme Situation ertragen oder ertragen können |
Where the eye mixes aufhalten and aushalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufhalten and aushalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: aufhalten vs aushalten
A purely visual mix-up. aufhalten ([ˈaʊ̯fˌhaltn̩]) and aushalten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩]) 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 a single letter - f in “aufhalten” becomes s in “aushalten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aufhalten is recorded at frequency rank #5,679, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌhaltn̩]. aushalten is at rank #8,170, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩].
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 13849, this pair ranks #1,955,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aufhalten vs aushalten
Shared letters: aehlntu. Private to "aufhalten": f. Private to "aushalten": s.
"aufhalten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "aushalten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aufhalten" for "aushalten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "aufhalten" or "aushalten"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aufhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aushalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,955,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufhalten" and "aushalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anschalten vs aushalten". 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 #1,955,260 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.