ausdenkenvsauskennenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,025
“ausdenken” frequency rank
#25,051
“auskennen” frequency rank
37076
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausdenken auskennen
Definition sich etwas Neues überlegen etwas gut kennen; Bescheid wissen, mit etwas umgehen können

Where the eye mixes ausdenken and auskennen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ausdenken and auskennen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
ausdenken
9 ch
auskennen

Look-alike desk: ausdenken vs auskennen

A purely visual mix-up. ausdenken ([ˈaʊ̯sˌdɛŋkn̩]) and auskennen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌkɛnən]) 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 37076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausdenken is recorded at frequency rank #12,025, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌdɛŋkn̩]. auskennen is at rank #25,051, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌkɛnən].

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 37076, this pair ranks #1,599,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausdenken vs auskennen

Shared letters: aeknsu. Private to "ausdenken": d. Private to "auskennen": -.

"ausdenken" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "auskennen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausdenken ← asudenken · audsenken · ausddenken · ausdeknen · ausdenekn · ausdenkenn · ausdenkken · ausdenkne
  • auskennen ← asukennen · auksennen · auseknnen · auskenen · auskenenn · auskennenn · auskennne · auskkennen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausdenken" for "auskennen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌdɛŋkn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌkɛnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausdenken" or "auskennen"?
"ausdenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,025 in our German list, against #25,051 for "auskennen". 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 "ausdenken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auskennen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,599,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausdenken" and "auskennen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auskennen vs aussenden". 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 #1,599,442 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