ausbauenvsaussagenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,681
“ausbauen” frequency rank
#2,050
“aussagen” frequency rank
11731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausbauen aussagen
Definition ein Teil aus einer Maschine, einer technischen Anlage herausnehmen etwas mit Bestimmtheit sagen

Where the eye mixes ausbauen and aussagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
ausbauen
8 ch
aussagen

Why the eye confuses ausbauen with aussagen

A purely visual mix-up. ausbauen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən]) and aussagen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌzaːɡn̩]) 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 11731, 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]. aussagen is at rank #2,050, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌzaːɡn̩].

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 11731, this pair ranks #1,968,241 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausbauen vs aussagen

Shared letters: aensu. Private to "ausbauen": b. Private to "aussagen": g.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausbauenasubauen · aubsauen · ausabuen · ausbaeun · ausbauenn · ausbaune · ausbbauen · ausbuaen
  • aussagenasusagen · ausagen · ausasgen · aussaegn · aussagenn · aussaggen · aussagne · aussgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausbauen" and "aussagen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbaʊ̯ən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌzaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausbauen" vs "aussagen" - which ranks higher?
"aussagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,050 in our German list, against #9,681 for "ausbauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausbauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aussagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,968,241 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausbauen" and "aussagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausbaden vs ausbauen". 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 #1,968,241 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