aufpassenvsauslassenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,243
“aufpassen” frequency rank
#22,632
“auslassen” frequency rank
27875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufpassen auslassen
Definition etwas aufmerksam verfolgen aus einer Menge etwas nicht heranziehen, nicht verwenden

Where the eye mixes aufpassen and auslassen

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

9 ch
aufpassen
9 ch
auslassen

Visual trap between aufpassen and auslassen

A purely visual mix-up. aufpassen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌpasn̩]) and auslassen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlasn̩]) 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 27875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufpassen is recorded at frequency rank #5,243, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌpasn̩]. auslassen is at rank #22,632, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌlasn̩].

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 27875, this pair ranks #1,794,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufpassen vs auslassen

Shared letters: aensu. Private to "aufpassen": fp. Private to "auslassen": l.

"aufpassen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "auslassen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufpassen ← afupassen · aufapssen · auffpassen · aufpasen · aufpasesn · aufpassenn · aufpassne · aufpaßen
  • auslassen ← asulassen · aulsassen · ausalssen · auslasen · auslasesn · auslassenn · auslassne · auslaßen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufpassen" for "auslassen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌpasn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌlasn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufpassen" or "auslassen"?
"aufpassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,243 in our German list, against #22,632 for "auslassen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufpassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auslassen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,794,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufpassen" and "auslassen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anlassen vs auslassen". 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 #1,794,402 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