ausbadenvsausbauenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,023
“ausbaden” frequency rank
#9,681
“ausbauen” frequency rank
52704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausbaden ausbauen
Definition die Konsequenzen tragen für etwas, das man selbst oder auch jemand anderer verursacht hat ein Teil aus einer Maschine, einer technischen Anlage herausnehmen

Where the eye mixes ausbaden and ausbauen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ausbaden (VVCCVCVC) and ausbauen (VVCCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
ausbaden
8 ch
ausbauen

Why the eye confuses ausbaden with ausbauen

A purely visual mix-up. ausbaden ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaːdn̩]) and ausbauen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən]) 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 - d in “ausbaden” becomes u in “ausbauen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausbaden is recorded at frequency rank #43,023, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbaːdn̩]. ausbauen is at rank #9,681, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən].

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 52704, this pair ranks #1,086,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausbaden vs ausbauen

Shared letters: abensu. Private to "ausbaden": d. Private to "ausbauen": -.

"ausbaden" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "ausbauen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausbaden ← asubaden · aubsaden · ausabden · ausbadden · ausbadenn · ausbadne · ausbaedn · ausbbaden
  • ausbauen ← asubauen · aubsauen · ausabuen · ausbaeun · ausbauenn · ausbaune · ausbbauen · ausbuaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausbaden" for "ausbauen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaːdn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ausbaden" or "ausbauen" show up more?
"ausbauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,681 in our German list, against #43,023 for "ausbaden". 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 "ausbaden" and "ausbauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausbaden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausbauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,086,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausbaden" and "ausbauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausbaden vs Auslagen". 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 #1,086,521 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