ausgebenvsauslegenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,154
“ausgeben” frequency rank
#22,261
“auslegen” frequency rank
28415
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausgeben auslegen
Definition Zahlungsmittel für etwas verbrauchen, abgeben, eintauschen eine Fläche mehr oder weniger lückenlos mit flächigen Teilen bedecken

Where the eye mixes ausgeben and auslegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ausgeben and auslegen 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
auslegen

Visual trap between ausgeben and auslegen

A purely visual mix-up. ausgeben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːbn̩]) and auslegen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28415, 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]. auslegen is at rank #22,261, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩].

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 28415, this pair ranks #1,785,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausgeben vs auslegen

Shared letters: aegnsu. Private to "ausgeben": b. Private to "auslegen": l.

"ausgeben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "auslegen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausgeben ← asugeben · augseben · ausegben · ausgbeen · ausgebben · ausgebenn · ausgebne · ausgeebn
  • auslegen ← asulegen · aulsegen · auselgen · ausleegn · auslegenn · ausleggen · auslegne · auslgeen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausgeben" and "auslegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausgeben" or "auslegen"?
"ausgeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,154 in our German list, against #22,261 for "auslegen". 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 "ausgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auslegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,785,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausgeben" and "auslegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auslagen vs auslegen". 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 #1,785,185 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