aufzuhaltenvsauszuhaltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,663
“aufzuhalten” frequency rank
#19,499
“auszuhalten” frequency rank
32162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufzuhalten auszuhalten
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aufhalten erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aushalten

Where the eye mixes aufzuhalten and auszuhalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. aufzuhalten and auszuhalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
aufzuhalten
11 ch
auszuhalten

Look-alike desk: aufzuhalten vs auszuhalten

A purely visual mix-up. aufzuhalten ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌhaltn̩]) and auszuhalten ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌhaltn̩]) 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 “aufzuhalten” becomes s in “auszuhalten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufzuhalten is recorded at frequency rank #12,663, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌhaltn̩]. auszuhalten is at rank #19,499, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌhaltn̩].

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 32162, this pair ranks #1,713,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufzuhalten vs auszuhalten

Shared letters: aehlntuz. Private to "aufzuhalten": f. Private to "auszuhalten": s.

"aufzuhalten" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC  ·  "auszuhalten" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufzuhalten ← afuzuhalten · auffzuhalten · aufuzhalten · aufzhualten · aufzuahlten · aufzuhaletn · aufzuhallten · aufzuhaltenn
  • auszuhalten ← asuzuhalten · ausszuhalten · ausuzhalten · auszhualten · auszuahlten · auszuhaletn · auszuhallten · auszuhaltenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aufzuhalten" and "auszuhalten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯ft͡suˌhaltn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aufzuhalten" or "auszuhalten"?
"aufzuhalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,663 in our German list, against #19,499 for "auszuhalten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufzuhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszuhalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,713,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufzuhalten" and "auszuhalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufzufallen vs aufzuhalten". 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 #1,713,422 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