aufsteigenvsaufteilenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,233
“aufsteigen” frequency rank
#20,837
“aufteilen” frequency rank
33070
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufsteigen aufteilen
Definition sich aus eigener Kraft oder mit Motorantrieb nach oben bewegen etwas unter mehreren verteilen

Where the eye mixes aufsteigen and aufteilen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufsteigen runs 10 letters (VVCCCVVCVC) against aufteilen's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
aufsteigen
9 ch
aufteilen

Visual trap between aufsteigen and aufteilen

A purely visual mix-up. aufsteigen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and aufteilen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtaɪ̯lən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufsteigen is recorded at frequency rank #12,233, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]. aufteilen is at rank #20,837, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaɪ̯lən].

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 33070, this pair ranks #1,693,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufsteigen vs aufteilen

Shared letters: aefintu. Private to "aufsteigen": gs. Private to "aufteilen": l.

"aufsteigen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC  ·  "aufteilen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufsteigen ← afusteigen · auffsteigen · aufsetigen · aufssteigen · aufstegien · aufsteiegn · aufsteigenn · aufsteiggen
  • aufteilen ← afuteilen · aufetilen · auffteilen · aufteieln · aufteilenn · aufteillen · aufteilne · auftelien

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aufsteigen" and "aufteilen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufsteigen" or "aufteilen"?
"aufsteigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,233 in our German list, against #20,837 for "aufteilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufsteigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufteilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,693,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufsteigen" and "aufteilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufsteigen vs aufsteigend". 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 #1,693,928 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