AusfallvsausfallenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ausfall is a noun, ausfallen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ausfall” is a noun and “ausfallen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,169
“Ausfall” frequency rank
#7,011
“ausfallen” frequency rank
15180
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ausfall ausfallen
Definition Versagen oder Verlust eines Systems oder eines seiner Teile nicht mehr zur Verfügung stehen

Where the eye mixes Ausfall and ausfallen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Ausfall
9 ch
ausfallen

Look-alike desk: Ausfall vs ausfallen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ausfall is [ˈaʊ̯sfal] while ausfallen is [ˈaʊ̯sˌfalən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Ausfall” sits inside “ausfallen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ausfall is recorded at frequency rank #8,169, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sfal]. ausfallen is at rank #7,011, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfalən].

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 15180, this pair ranks #1,945,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ausfall vs ausfallen

Shared letters: aflsu. Private to "Ausfall": -. Private to "ausfallen": en.

"Ausfall" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "ausfallen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ausfallasufall · aufsall · ausafll · ausfal · ausffall · ausflal · aussfall · uasfall
  • ausfallenasufallen · aufsallen · ausafllen · ausfaleln · ausfalen · ausfallenn · ausfallne · ausffallen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ausfall" and "ausfallen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ausfall" is a noun and "ausfallen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ausfall" or "ausfallen"?
"ausfallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,011 in our German list, against #8,169 for "Ausfall". 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 "Ausfall" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausfallen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,945,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ausfall" and "ausfallen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausfallen vs ausrollen". 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 #1,945,795 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