aufrichtenvsausrichtetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,389
“aufrichten” frequency rank
#45,779
“ausrichtet” frequency rank
86168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufrichten ausrichtet
Definition etwas oder jemanden in die physikalisch aufrechte Lage bringen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs ausrichten

Where the eye mixes aufrichten and ausrichtet

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

10 ch
aufrichten
10 ch
ausrichtet

Why the eye confuses aufrichten with ausrichtet

A purely visual mix-up. aufrichten ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɪçtn̩]) and ausrichtet ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɪçtət]) 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 86168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufrichten is recorded at frequency rank #40,389, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɪçtn̩]. ausrichtet is at rank #45,779, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɪçtət].

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 86168, this pair ranks #97,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aufrichten vs ausrichtet

Shared letters: acehirtu. Private to "aufrichten": fn. Private to "ausrichtet": s.

"aufrichten" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCCVC  ·  "ausrichtet" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufrichtenafurichten · auffrichten · aufirchten · aufrcihten · aufricchten · aufrichetn · aufrichhten · aufrichtenn
  • ausrichtetasurichtet · aursichtet · ausirchtet · ausrcihtet · ausricchtet · ausrichett · ausrichhtet · ausrichtett

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufrichten" for "ausrichtet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɪçtn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɪçtət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufrichten" or "ausrichtet"?
"aufrichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,389 in our German list, against #45,779 for "ausrichtet". 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 "aufrichten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausrichtet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #97,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufrichten" and "ausrichtet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anrichtet vs ausrichtet". 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 #97,685 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