Which to use
“Auftrag” is a noun and “auftragen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,539
- “Auftrag” frequency rank
- #28,529
- “auftragen” frequency rank
- 30068
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Auftrag | auftragen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mündliche oder schriftliche Aufforderungen einer Stelle oder einer Person an eine andere Stelle oder Person | Speisen auf dem Tisch servieren; ein Thema ansprechen |
Where the eye mixes Auftrag and auftragen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Auftrag runs 7 letters (VVCCCVC) against auftragen's 9 (VVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Auftrag and auftragen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Auftrag is [ˈaʊ̯fˌtʁaːk] while auftragen is [ˈaʊ̯fˌtʁaːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Auftrag” sits inside “auftragen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Auftrag is recorded at frequency rank #1,539, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtʁaːk]. auftragen is at rank #28,529, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtʁaːɡn̩].
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 30068, this pair ranks #1,755,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Auftrag vs auftragen
Shared letters: afgrtu. Private to "Auftrag": -. Private to "auftragen": en.
"Auftrag" · 7 letters · shape VVCCCVC · "auftragen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Auftrag" and "auftragen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Auftrag" vs "auftragen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Auftrag" and "auftragen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Auftrag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "auftragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,755,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Auftrag" and "auftragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abtragen vs auftragen". 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 #1,755,039 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.