aufzubrechenvsauszubrechenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,940
“aufzubrechen” frequency rank
#38,612
“auszubrechen” frequency rank
68552
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufzubrechen auszubrechen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aufbrechen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausbrechen

Where the eye mixes aufzubrechen and auszubrechen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. aufzubrechen and auszubrechen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
aufzubrechen
12 ch
auszubrechen

Why the eye confuses aufzubrechen with auszubrechen

A purely visual mix-up. aufzubrechen ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌbʁɛçn̩]) and auszubrechen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌbʁɛçn̩]) 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 a single letter - f in “aufzubrechen” becomes s in “auszubrechen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufzubrechen is recorded at frequency rank #29,940, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌbʁɛçn̩]. auszubrechen is at rank #38,612, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌbʁɛçn̩].

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 68552, this pair ranks #504,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aufzubrechen vs auszubrechen

Shared letters: abcehnruz. Private to "aufzubrechen": f. Private to "auszubrechen": s.

"aufzubrechen" · 12 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCVC  ·  "auszubrechen" · 12 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufzubrechen ← afuzubrechen · auffzubrechen · aufuzbrechen · aufzburechen · aufzubbrechen · aufzuberchen · aufzubrcehen · aufzubrecchen
  • auszubrechen ← asuzubrechen · ausszubrechen · ausuzbrechen · auszburechen · auszubbrechen · auszuberchen · auszubrcehen · auszubrecchen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufzubrechen" for "auszubrechen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌbʁɛçn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌbʁɛçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufzubrechen" or "auszubrechen"?
"aufzubrechen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,940 in our German list, against #38,612 for "auszubrechen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzubrechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszubrechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #504,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufzubrechen" and "auszubrechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzubrechen vs auszubrechen". 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 #504,154 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