ausgebautvsausgelaugtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ausgebaut is a adjective, ausgelaugt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ausgebaut” is an adjective and “ausgelaugt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,245
“ausgebaut” frequency rank
#41,043
“ausgelaugt” frequency rank
46288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausgebaut ausgelaugt
Definition in einem planmäßig vergrößerten/erweiterten Zustand Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auslaugen

Where the eye mixes ausgebaut and ausgelaugt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
ausgebaut
10 ch
ausgelaugt

Why the eye confuses ausgebaut with ausgelaugt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ausgebaut is [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌbaʊ̯t] while ausgelaugt is [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌlaʊ̯kt]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausgebaut is recorded at frequency rank #5,245, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌbaʊ̯t]. ausgelaugt is at rank #41,043, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌlaʊ̯kt].

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 46288, this pair ranks #1,324,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausgebaut vs ausgelaugt

Shared letters: aegstu. Private to "ausgebaut": b. Private to "ausgelaugt": l.

"ausgebaut" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVVC  ·  "ausgelaugt" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausgebautasugebaut · augsebaut · ausegbaut · ausgbeaut · ausgeabut · ausgebatu · ausgebautt · ausgebbaut
  • ausgelaugtasugelaugt · augselaugt · auseglaugt · ausgealugt · ausgelagut · ausgelauggt · ausgelaugtt · ausgelautg

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausgebaut" and "ausgelaugt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ausgebaut" is an adjective and "ausgelaugt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ausgebaut" or "ausgelaugt" show up more?
"ausgebaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,245 in our German list, against #41,043 for "ausgelaugt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgebaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgelaugt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,324,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausgebaut" and "ausgelaugt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgelaugt vs ausgeräumt". 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 #1,324,278 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