aufweisenvsaufzuweisenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,390
“aufweisen” frequency rank
#45,137
“aufzuweisen” frequency rank
51527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufweisen aufzuweisen
Definition etwas als Merkmal haben erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aufweisen

Where the eye mixes aufweisen and aufzuweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aufweisen runs 9 letters (VVCCVVCVC) against aufzuweisen's 11 (VVCCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
aufweisen
11 ch
aufzuweisen

Why the eye confuses aufweisen with aufzuweisen

A purely visual mix-up. aufweisen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and aufzuweisen ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufweisen is recorded at frequency rank #6,390, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvaɪ̯zn̩]. aufzuweisen is at rank #45,137, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 51527, this pair ranks #1,132,081 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufweisen vs aufzuweisen

Shared letters: aefinsuw. Private to "aufweisen": -. Private to "aufzuweisen": z.

"aufweisen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "aufzuweisen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufweisenafuweisen · aufewisen · auffweisen · aufweiesn · aufweisenn · aufweisne · aufweissen · aufwesien
  • aufzuweisenafuzuweisen · auffzuweisen · aufuzweisen · aufzuewisen · aufzuweiesn · aufzuweisenn · aufzuweisne · aufzuweissen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aufweisen" and "aufzuweisen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌvaɪ̯zn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufweisen" or "aufzuweisen"?
"aufweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,390 in our German list, against #45,137 for "aufzuweisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufweisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzuweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,132,081 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufweisen" and "aufzuweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzuweisen vs aufzuweisen". 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 #1,132,081 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