aufzählenvsauswählenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,013
“aufzählen” frequency rank
#10,615
“auswählen” frequency rank
39628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufzählen auswählen
Definition jemandem etwas im Einzelnen und nacheinander nennen sich für eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten entscheiden

Where the eye mixes aufzählen and auswählen

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

9 ch
aufzählen
9 ch
auswählen

Look-alike desk: aufzählen vs auswählen

A purely visual mix-up. aufzählen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡sɛːlən]) and auswählen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən]) 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 39628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufzählen is recorded at frequency rank #29,013, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡sɛːlən]. auswählen is at rank #10,615, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən].

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 39628, this pair ranks #1,531,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufzählen vs auswählen

Shared letters: aehlnuä. Private to "aufzählen": fz. Private to "auswählen": sw.

"aufzählen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "auswählen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufzählen" for "auswählen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡sɛːlən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufzählen" vs "auswählen" - which ranks higher?
"auswählen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,615 in our German list, against #29,013 for "aufzählen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "aufzählen" and "auswählen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzählen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auswählen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,531,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufzählen" and "auswählen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufzählen vs aufzuholen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,531,436 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