aufzugebenvsaufzuregenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,422
“aufzugeben” frequency rank
#29,941
“aufzuregen” frequency rank
40363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufzugeben aufzuregen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aufgeben erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aufregen

Where the eye mixes aufzugeben and aufzuregen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufzugeben and aufzuregen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
aufzugeben
10 ch
aufzuregen

Why the eye confuses aufzugeben with aufzuregen

A purely visual mix-up. aufzugeben ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌɡeːbn̩]) and aufzuregen ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌʁeːɡn̩]) 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 40363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufzugeben is recorded at frequency rank #10,422, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌɡeːbn̩]. aufzuregen is at rank #29,941, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌʁeːɡn̩].

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 40363, this pair ranks #1,510,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufzugeben vs aufzuregen

Shared letters: aefgnuz. Private to "aufzugeben": b. Private to "aufzuregen": r.

"aufzugeben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC  ·  "aufzuregen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufzugebenafuzugeben · auffzugeben · aufuzgeben · aufzgueben · aufzuegben · aufzugbeen · aufzugebben · aufzugebenn
  • aufzuregenafuzuregen · auffzuregen · aufuzregen · aufzruegen · aufzuergen · aufzureegn · aufzuregenn · aufzureggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufzugeben" for "aufzuregen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌʁeːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufzugeben" or "aufzuregen"?
"aufzugeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,422 in our German list, against #29,941 for "aufzuregen". 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 "aufzugeben" and "aufzuregen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzugeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzuregen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,510,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufzugeben" and "aufzuregen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aufzügen vs aufzuregen". 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 #1,510,659 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