ausbreitenvsausweitenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,517
“ausbreiten” frequency rank
#24,626
“ausweiten” frequency rank
42143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausbreiten ausweiten
Definition etwas entfalten, übersichtlich nebeneinanderlegen (um jemandem etwas zu zeigen) etwas durch Benutzung dehnen und somit dauerhaft weiter machen

Where the eye mixes ausbreiten and ausweiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ausbreiten runs 10 letters (VVCCCVVCVC) against ausweiten's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
ausbreiten
9 ch
ausweiten

Visual trap between ausbreiten and ausweiten

A purely visual mix-up. ausbreiten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbʁaɪ̯tn̩]) and ausweiten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) 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 42143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausbreiten is recorded at frequency rank #17,517, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌbʁaɪ̯tn̩]. ausweiten is at rank #24,626, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩].

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 42143, this pair ranks #1,458,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausbreiten vs ausweiten

Shared letters: aeinstu. Private to "ausbreiten": br. Private to "ausweiten": w.

"ausbreiten" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC  ·  "ausweiten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausbreiten ← asubreiten · aubsreiten · ausbbreiten · ausberiten · ausbreietn · ausbreitenn · ausbreitne · ausbreitten
  • ausweiten ← asuweiten · ausewiten · aussweiten · ausweietn · ausweitenn · ausweitne · ausweitten · auswetien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausbreiten" and "ausweiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌbʁaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausbreiten" vs "ausweiten" - which ranks higher?
"ausbreiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,517 in our German list, against #24,626 for "ausweiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausbreiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausweiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,458,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausbreiten" and "ausweiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwerten vs ausweiten". 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 #1,458,294 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