ausgebenvsauslebenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,154
“ausgeben” frequency rank
#16,357
“ausleben” frequency rank
22511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausgeben ausleben
Definition Zahlungsmittel für etwas verbrauchen, abgeben, eintauschen eine Absicht in die Tat umsetzen und längere Zeit verwirklichen

Where the eye mixes ausgeben and ausleben

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

8 ch
ausgeben
8 ch
ausleben

Why the eye confuses ausgeben with ausleben

A purely visual mix-up. ausgeben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːbn̩]) and ausleben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - g in “ausgeben” becomes l in “ausleben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausgeben is recorded at frequency rank #6,154, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːbn̩]. ausleben is at rank #16,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩].

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 22511, this pair ranks #1,873,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausgeben vs ausleben

Shared letters: abensu. Private to "ausgeben": g. Private to "ausleben": l.

"ausgeben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "ausleben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausgeben ← asugeben · augseben · ausegben · ausgbeen · ausgebben · ausgebenn · ausgebne · ausgeebn
  • ausleben ← asuleben · aulseben · auselben · auslbeen · auslebben · auslebenn · auslebne · ausleebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausgeben" for "ausleben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausgeben" vs "ausleben" - which ranks higher?
"ausgeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,154 in our German list, against #16,357 for "ausleben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausleben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,873,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausgeben" and "ausleben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausleben vs auszuleben". 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 #1,873,305 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