Which to use
“auftauen” and “ausbauen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,662
- “auftauen” frequency rank
- #9,681
- “ausbauen” frequency rank
- 51343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | auftauen | ausbauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gefrorenes vom Eis befreien, schmelzen^([2]) | ein Teil aus einer Maschine, einer technischen Anlage herausnehmen |
Where the eye mixes auftauen and ausbauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. auftauen and ausbauen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses auftauen with ausbauen
A purely visual mix-up. auftauen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯ən]) and ausbauen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən]) 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 51343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
auftauen is recorded at frequency rank #41,662, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯ən]. ausbauen is at rank #9,681, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən].
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 51343, this pair ranks #1,139,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of auftauen vs ausbauen
Shared letters: aenu. Private to "auftauen": ft. Private to "ausbauen": bs.
"auftauen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVVC · "ausbauen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "auftauen" and "ausbauen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "auftauen" vs "ausbauen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "auftauen" and "ausbauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "auftauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausbauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,139,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "auftauen" and "ausbauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aufbauten vs auftauen". 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 #1,139,108 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.