AufnahmevsAusnahmeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,048
“Aufnahme” frequency rank
#2,285
“Ausnahme” frequency rank
4333
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufnahme Ausnahme
Definition das Beginnen von etwas Abweichung von einer Regel

Where the eye mixes Aufnahme and Ausnahme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Aufnahme and Ausnahme follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Aufnahme
8 ch
Ausnahme

Visual trap between Aufnahme and Ausnahme

A purely visual mix-up. Aufnahme ([ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːmə]) and Ausnahme ([ˈaʊ̯sˌnaːmə]) 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 “Aufnahme” becomes s in “Ausnahme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufnahme is recorded at frequency rank #2,048, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːmə]. 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 4333, this pair ranks #1,997,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Aufnahme vs Ausnahme

Shared letters: aehmnu. Private to "Aufnahme": f. Private to "Ausnahme": s.

"Aufnahme" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV  ·  "Ausnahme" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufnahme ← afunahme · aufanhme · auffnahme · aufnahem · aufnahhme · aufnahmme · aufnamhe · aufnhame
  • Ausnahme ← asunahme · aunsahme · ausanhme · ausnahem · ausnahhme · ausnahmme · ausnamhe · ausnhame

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Aufnahme" for "Ausnahme" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌnaːmə] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌnaːmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Aufnahme" vs "Ausnahme" - which ranks higher?
"Aufnahme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,048 in our German list, against #2,285 for "Ausnahme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Aufnahme" 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 #1,997,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufnahme" and "Ausnahme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ausnahme vs ausnehmen". 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 #1,997,997 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