aufnahmvsAusnahmeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aufnahm is a verb, Ausnahme is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aufnahm” is a verb and “Ausnahme” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,167
“aufnahm” frequency rank
#2,285
“Ausnahme” frequency rank
22452
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufnahm Ausnahme
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufnehmen Abweichung von einer Regel

Where the eye mixes aufnahm and Ausnahme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
aufnahm
8 ch
Ausnahme

Look-alike desk: aufnahm vs Ausnahme

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aufnahm is [ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːm] while Ausnahme is [ˈaʊ̯sˌnaːmə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufnahm is recorded at frequency rank #20,167, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːm]. Ausnahme is at rank #2,285, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌnaːmə].

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 22452, this pair ranks #1,873,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufnahm vs Ausnahme

Shared letters: ahmnu. Private to "aufnahm": f. Private to "Ausnahme": es.

"aufnahm" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "Ausnahme" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufnahmafunahm · aufanhm · auffnahm · aufnahhm · aufnahmm · aufnamh · aufnham · aufnnahm
  • Ausnahmeasunahme · aunsahme · ausanhme · ausnahem · ausnahhme · ausnahmme · ausnamhe · ausnhame

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aufnahm" and "Ausnahme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aufnahm" is a verb and "Ausnahme" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "aufnahm" or "Ausnahme" show up more?
"Ausnahme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,285 in our German list, against #20,167 for "aufnahm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufnahm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausnahme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,873,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufnahm" and "Ausnahme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufkam vs aufnahm". 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 #1,873,986 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