aufwiesenvsaufziehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,368
“aufwiesen” frequency rank
#19,495
“aufziehen” frequency rank
56863
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufwiesen aufziehen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufweisen durch Ziehen öffnen

Where the eye mixes aufwiesen and aufziehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. aufwiesen and aufziehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
aufwiesen
9 ch
aufziehen

Why the eye confuses aufwiesen with aufziehen

A purely visual mix-up. aufwiesen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌviːzn̩]) and aufziehen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡siːən]) 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 56863, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufwiesen is recorded at frequency rank #37,368, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌviːzn̩]. aufziehen is at rank #19,495, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡siːən].

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 56863, this pair ranks #923,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufwiesen vs aufziehen

Shared letters: aefinu. Private to "aufwiesen": sw. Private to "aufziehen": hz.

"aufwiesen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "aufziehen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufwiesenafuwiesen · auffwiesen · aufiwesen · aufwieesn · aufwiesenn · aufwiesne · aufwiessen · aufwiseen
  • aufziehenafuziehen · auffziehen · aufizehen · aufzeihen · aufzieehn · aufziehenn · aufziehhen · aufziehne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufwiesen" for "aufziehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌviːzn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡siːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufwiesen" or "aufziehen"?
"aufziehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,495 in our German list, against #37,368 for "aufwiesen". 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 "aufwiesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufziehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #923,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufwiesen" and "aufziehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwies vs aufwiesen". 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 #923,760 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