AusfällevsausfüllenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,303
“Ausfälle” frequency rank
#10,810
“ausfüllen” frequency rank
26113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ausfälle ausfüllen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ausfall ein Formular ergänzen

Where the eye mixes Ausfälle and ausfüllen

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

8 ch
Ausfälle
9 ch
ausfüllen

Why the eye confuses Ausfälle with ausfüllen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ausfälle is [ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə] while ausfüllen is [ˈaʊ̯sˌfʏlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ausfälle is recorded at frequency rank #15,303, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sfɛlə]. ausfüllen is at rank #10,810, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfʏlən].

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 26113, this pair ranks #1,822,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ausfälle vs ausfüllen

Shared letters: aeflsu. Private to "Ausfälle": ä. Private to "ausfüllen": nü.

"Ausfälle" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV  ·  "ausfüllen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ausfälle" for "ausfüllen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ausfälle" is a noun and "ausfüllen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Ausfälle" vs "ausfüllen" - which ranks higher?
"ausfüllen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,810 in our German list, against #15,303 for "Ausfälle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausfälle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausfüllen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,822,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ausfälle" and "ausfüllen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ausfälle vs ausfüllt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,822,965 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