Which to use
“aufmacht” is a verb and “aufrecht” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,526
- “aufmacht” frequency rank
- #6,633
- “aufrecht” frequency rank
- 35159
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufmacht | aufrecht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufmachen | mit geradem, aufgerichtetem Körper |
Where the eye mixes aufmacht and aufrecht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aufmacht and aufrecht follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses aufmacht with aufrecht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aufmacht is [ˈaʊ̯fˌmaxt] while aufrecht is [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɛçt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aufmacht is recorded at frequency rank #28,526, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌmaxt]. aufrecht is at rank #6,633, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɛçt].
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 35159, this pair ranks #1,646,621 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aufmacht vs aufrecht
Shared letters: acfhtu. Private to "aufmacht": m. Private to "aufrecht": er.
"aufmacht" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCC · "aufrecht" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aufmacht" for "aufrecht" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "aufmacht" or "aufrecht" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aufmacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aufrecht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,646,621 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufmacht" and "aufrecht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufmacht vs aufwache". 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 #1,646,621 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.