auflegenvsaufzeigenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,511
“auflegen” frequency rank
#12,234
“aufzeigen” frequency rank
29745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auflegen aufzeigen
Definition etwas auf etwas liegend positionieren sich melden; mit dem Finger nach oben zeigen

Where the eye mixes auflegen and aufzeigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. auflegen runs 8 letters (VVCCVCVC) against aufzeigen's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
auflegen
9 ch
aufzeigen

Look-alike desk: auflegen vs aufzeigen

A purely visual mix-up. auflegen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌleːɡn̩]) and aufzeigen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]) 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 29745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auflegen is recorded at frequency rank #17,511, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌleːɡn̩]. aufzeigen is at rank #12,234, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩].

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 29745, this pair ranks #1,761,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auflegen vs aufzeigen

Shared letters: aefgnu. Private to "auflegen": l. Private to "aufzeigen": iz.

"auflegen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "aufzeigen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auflegenafulegen · aufelgen · aufflegen · aufleegn · auflegenn · aufleggen · auflegne · auflgeen
  • aufzeigenafuzeigen · aufezigen · auffzeigen · aufzegien · aufzeiegn · aufzeigenn · aufzeiggen · aufzeigne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "auflegen" and "aufzeigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "auflegen" vs "aufzeigen" - which ranks higher?
"aufzeigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,234 in our German list, against #17,511 for "auflegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "auflegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzeigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,761,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auflegen" and "aufzeigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auflegen vs Aufzügen". 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 #1,761,095 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