aufsteigenvsausteilenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,233
“aufsteigen” frequency rank
#37,978
“austeilen” frequency rank
50211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufsteigen austeilen
Definition sich aus eigener Kraft oder mit Motorantrieb nach oben bewegen Gegenstände an mehrere Personen verteilen

Where the eye mixes aufsteigen and austeilen

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

10 ch
aufsteigen
9 ch
austeilen

Look-alike desk: aufsteigen vs austeilen

A purely visual mix-up. aufsteigen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and austeilen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtaɪ̯lən]) 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 50211, 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]. austeilen is at rank #37,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaɪ̯lən].

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 50211, this pair ranks #1,182,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufsteigen vs austeilen

Shared letters: aeinstu. Private to "aufsteigen": fg. Private to "austeilen": l.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufsteigen ← afusteigen · auffsteigen · aufsetigen · aufssteigen · aufstegien · aufsteiegn · aufsteigenn · aufsteiggen
  • austeilen ← asuteilen · ausetilen · aussteilen · austeieln · austeilenn · austeillen · austeilne · austelien

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aufsteigen" and "austeilen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufsteigen" vs "austeilen" - which ranks higher?
"aufsteigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,233 in our German list, against #37,978 for "austeilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufsteigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "austeilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,182,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufsteigen" and "austeilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "austeilen vs austreiben". 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 #1,182,354 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