ausdehnenvsaussehenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,481
“ausdehnen” frequency rank
#1,408
“aussehen” frequency rank
30889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausdehnen aussehen
Definition die Länge, Fläche oder das Volumen einer Sache vergrößern ein Bild nach außen abgeben

Where the eye mixes ausdehnen and aussehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ausdehnen runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against aussehen's 8 (VVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
ausdehnen
8 ch
aussehen

Why the eye confuses ausdehnen with aussehen

A purely visual mix-up. ausdehnen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌdeːnən]) and aussehen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌz̥eːən]) 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 30889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausdehnen is recorded at frequency rank #29,481, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌdeːnən]. aussehen is at rank #1,408, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌz̥eːən].

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 30889, this pair ranks #1,739,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausdehnen vs aussehen

Shared letters: aehnsu. Private to "ausdehnen": d. Private to "aussehen": -.

"ausdehnen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "aussehen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausdehnen ← asudehnen · audsehnen · ausddehnen · ausdehenn · ausdehhnen · ausdehnenn · ausdehnne · ausdehnnen
  • aussehen ← asusehen · ausehen · auseshen · ausseehn · aussehenn · aussehhen · aussehne · aussheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausdehnen" for "aussehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌdeːnən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌz̥eːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausdehnen" or "aussehen"?
"aussehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,408 in our German list, against #29,481 for "ausdehnen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "ausdehnen" and "aussehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausdehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aussehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,739,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausdehnen" and "aussehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausdehnen vs auszudehnen". 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 #1,739,084 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