Which to use
“aufmachen” and “ausmachen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,678
- “aufmachen” frequency rank
- #6,393
- “ausmachen” frequency rank
- 15071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufmachen | ausmachen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas öffnen | ein Gerät (Lampe, Heizung, Elektrogerät etc.) abschalten, ein Feuer löschen |
Where the eye mixes aufmachen and ausmachen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufmachen and ausmachen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: aufmachen vs ausmachen
A purely visual mix-up. aufmachen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌmaxn̩]) and ausmachen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌmaxn̩]) 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 “aufmachen” becomes s in “ausmachen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15071, 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]. ausmachen is at rank #6,393, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌmaxn̩].
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 15071, this pair ranks #1,946,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aufmachen vs ausmachen
Shared letters: acehmnu. Private to "aufmachen": f. Private to "ausmachen": s.
"aufmachen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "ausmachen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aufmachen" for "ausmachen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aufmachen" vs "ausmachen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "aufmachen" and "ausmachen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "aufmachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausmachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,946,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufmachen" and "ausmachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufkochen vs aufmachen". 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 #1,946,608 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.