Which to use
“ausbauen” and “auslaufen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,681
- “ausbauen” frequency rank
- #17,226
- “auslaufen” frequency rank
- 26907
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ausbauen | auslaufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Teil aus einer Maschine, einer technischen Anlage herausnehmen | als Flüssigkeit aus einer Öffnung austreten |
Where the eye mixes ausbauen and auslaufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ausbauen and auslaufen
A purely visual mix-up. ausbauen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən]) and auslaufen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaʊ̯fn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ausbauen is recorded at frequency rank #9,681, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən]. auslaufen is at rank #17,226, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌlaʊ̯fn̩].
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 26907, this pair ranks #1,810,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ausbauen vs auslaufen
Shared letters: aensu. Private to "ausbauen": b. Private to "auslaufen": fl.
"ausbauen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVVC · "auslaufen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ausbauen" and "auslaufen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ausbauen" or "auslaufen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ausbauen" and "auslaufen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ausbauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "auslaufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,810,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ausbauen" and "auslaufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auslagen vs auslaufen". 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 #1,810,427 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.