AufrissvsaufwiesWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#45,135
“Aufriss” frequency rank
#30,453
“aufwies” frequency rank
75588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufriss aufwies
Definition zeichnerische Darstellung der Vorder- oder Seitenansicht eines Gebäudes oder eines Objektes 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufweisen

Where the eye mixes Aufriss and aufwies

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Aufriss (VVCCVCC) and aufwies (VVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Aufriss
7 ch
aufwies

Why the eye confuses Aufriss with aufwies

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Aufriss is [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɪs] while aufwies is [ˈaʊ̯fˌviːs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufriss is recorded at frequency rank #45,135, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁɪs]. aufwies is at rank #30,453, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌviːs].

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 75588, this pair ranks #304,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Aufriss vs aufwies

Shared letters: afisu. Private to "Aufriss": r. Private to "aufwies": ew.

"Aufriss" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "aufwies" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufriss ← afuriss · auffriss · aufirss · aufris · aufriß · aufrriss · aufrsis · aurfiss
  • aufwies ← afuwies · auffwies · aufiwes · aufweis · aufwiess · aufwise · aufwwies · auwfies

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Aufriss" for "aufwies" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Aufriss" is a noun and "aufwies" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Aufriss" or "aufwies"?
"aufwies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,453 in our German list, against #45,135 for "Aufriss". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Aufriss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufwies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #304,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufriss" and "aufwies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwies vs aufwiesen". 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 #304,353 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