Which to use
“aufmachen” and “aufsuchen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,678
- “aufmachen” frequency rank
- #13,097
- “aufsuchen” frequency rank
- 21775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufmachen | aufsuchen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas öffnen | sich zu einem bestimmten Ort begeben |
Where the eye mixes aufmachen and aufsuchen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. aufmachen and aufsuchen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between aufmachen and aufsuchen
A purely visual mix-up. aufmachen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌmaxn̩]) and aufsuchen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌzuːxn̩]) 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 21775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aufmachen is recorded at frequency rank #8,678, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌmaxn̩]. aufsuchen is at rank #13,097, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌzuːxn̩].
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 21775, this pair ranks #1,882,325 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aufmachen vs aufsuchen
Shared letters: acefhnu. Private to "aufmachen": m. Private to "aufsuchen": s.
"aufmachen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "aufsuchen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aufmachen" and "aufsuchen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "aufmachen" or "aufsuchen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aufmachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aufsuchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,882,325 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufmachen" and "aufsuchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufkochen vs aufsuchen". 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 #1,882,325 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.