aufräumenvsausräumenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,169
“aufräumen” frequency rank
#34,528
“ausräumen” frequency rank
45697
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufräumen ausräumen
Definition Ordnung schaffen einen Raum oder ein Behältnis, in dem Dinge verwahrt sind, leeren

Where the eye mixes aufräumen and ausräumen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufräumen and ausräumen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
aufräumen
9 ch
ausräumen

Why the eye confuses aufräumen with ausräumen

A purely visual mix-up. aufräumen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) and ausräumen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) 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 “aufräumen” becomes s in “ausräumen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufräumen is recorded at frequency rank #11,169, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɔɪ̯mən]. ausräumen is at rank #34,528, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɔɪ̯mən].

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 45697, this pair ranks #1,344,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufräumen vs ausräumen

Shared letters: aemnruä. Private to "aufräumen": f. Private to "ausräumen": s.

"aufräumen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausräumen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aufräumen" and "ausräumen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɔɪ̯mən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɔɪ̯mən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufräumen" vs "ausräumen" - which ranks higher?
"aufräumen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,169 in our German list, against #34,528 for "ausräumen". 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 "aufräumen" and "ausräumen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufräumen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausräumen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,344,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufräumen" and "ausräumen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausräumen vs auszuräumen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,344,228 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