Which to use
“ausfallen” and “auswählen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,011
- “ausfallen” frequency rank
- #10,615
- “auswählen” frequency rank
- 17626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ausfallen | auswählen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht mehr zur Verfügung stehen | sich für eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten entscheiden |
Where the eye mixes ausfallen and auswählen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ausfallen and auswählen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between ausfallen and auswählen
A purely visual mix-up. ausfallen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌfalən]) and auswählen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ausfallen is recorded at frequency rank #7,011, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌfalən]. auswählen is at rank #10,615, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən].
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 17626, this pair ranks #1,925,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ausfallen vs auswählen
Shared letters: aelnsu. Private to "ausfallen": f. Private to "auswählen": hwä.
"ausfallen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "auswählen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ausfallen ← asufallen · aufsallen · ausafllen · ausfaleln · ausfalen · ausfallenn · ausfallne · ausffallen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ausfallen" and "auswählen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "ausfallen" or "auswählen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ausfallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "auswählen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,925,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ausfallen" and "auswählen" 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 #1,925,728 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.