ausbleibenvsauslebenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#27,633
“ausbleiben” frequency rank
#16,357
“ausleben” frequency rank
43990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausbleiben ausleben
Definition entgegen der Erwartung nicht eintreffen eine Absicht in die Tat umsetzen und längere Zeit verwirklichen

Where the eye mixes ausbleiben and ausleben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
ausbleiben
8 ch
ausleben

Look-alike desk: ausbleiben vs ausleben

A purely visual mix-up. ausbleiben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌblaɪ̯bn̩]) and ausleben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausbleiben is recorded at frequency rank #27,633, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌblaɪ̯bn̩]. ausleben is at rank #16,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩].

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 43990, this pair ranks #1,400,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausbleiben vs ausleben

Shared letters: abelnsu. Private to "ausbleiben": i. Private to "ausleben": -.

"ausbleiben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC  ·  "ausleben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausbleibenasubleiben · aubsleiben · ausbbleiben · ausbeliben · ausblebien · ausbleibben · ausbleibenn · ausbleibne
  • auslebenasuleben · aulseben · auselben · auslbeen · auslebben · auslebenn · auslebne · ausleebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausbleiben" and "ausleben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌblaɪ̯bn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausbleiben" vs "ausleben" - which ranks higher?
"ausleben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,357 in our German list, against #27,633 for "ausbleiben". 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 "ausbleiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausleben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,400,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausbleiben" and "ausleben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausbleiben vs austreiben". 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 #1,400,631 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