aufzeichnenvsauszeichnetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,478
“aufzeichnen” frequency rank
#19,828
“auszeichnet” frequency rank
49306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufzeichnen auszeichnet
Definition etwas auf etwas zeichnen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs auszeichnen

Where the eye mixes aufzeichnen and auszeichnet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aufzeichnen and auszeichnet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
aufzeichnen
11 ch
auszeichnet

Look-alike desk: aufzeichnen vs auszeichnet

A purely visual mix-up. aufzeichnen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡saɪ̯çnən]) and auszeichnet ([ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnət]) 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 49306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufzeichnen is recorded at frequency rank #29,478, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡saɪ̯çnən]. auszeichnet is at rank #19,828, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnət].

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 49306, this pair ranks #1,216,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufzeichnen vs auszeichnet

Shared letters: acehinuz. Private to "aufzeichnen": f. Private to "auszeichnet": st.

"aufzeichnen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC  ·  "auszeichnet" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufzeichnen ← afuzeichnen · aufezichnen · auffzeichnen · aufzecihnen · aufzeicchnen · aufzeichenn · aufzeichhnen · aufzeichnenn
  • auszeichnet ← asuzeichnet · ausezichnet · ausszeichnet · auszecihnet · auszeicchnet · auszeichent · auszeichhnet · auszeichnett

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aufzeichnen" and "auszeichnet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌt͡saɪ̯çnən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufzeichnen" vs "auszeichnet" - which ranks higher?
"auszeichnet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,828 in our German list, against #29,478 for "aufzeichnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzeichnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszeichnet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,216,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufzeichnen" and "auszeichnet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufzeichnen vs aufzuzeichnen". 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 #1,216,423 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