ausgegrabenvsausgetragenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,825
“ausgegraben” frequency rank
#7,724
“ausgetragen” frequency rank
27549
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausgegraben ausgetragen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ausgraben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs austragen

Where the eye mixes ausgegraben and ausgetragen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ausgegraben and ausgetragen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
ausgegraben
11 ch
ausgetragen

Visual trap between ausgegraben and ausgetragen

A purely visual mix-up. ausgegraben ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌɡʁaːbn̩]) and ausgetragen ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌtʁaːɡn̩]) 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 27549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausgegraben is recorded at frequency rank #19,825, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌɡʁaːbn̩]. ausgetragen is at rank #7,724, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌtʁaːɡn̩].

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 27549, this pair ranks #1,799,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausgegraben vs ausgetragen

Shared letters: aegnrsu. Private to "ausgegraben": b. Private to "ausgetragen": t.

"ausgegraben" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCVC  ·  "ausgetragen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausgegraben ← asugegraben · augsegraben · auseggraben · ausgegarben · ausgeggraben · ausgegrabben · ausgegrabenn · ausgegrabne
  • ausgetragen ← asugetragen · augsetragen · ausegtragen · ausgertagen · ausgetargen · ausgetraegn · ausgetragenn · ausgetraggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausgegraben" and "ausgetragen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌɡʁaːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌtʁaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausgegraben" or "ausgetragen"?
"ausgetragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,724 in our German list, against #19,825 for "ausgegraben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgegraben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgetragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,799,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausgegraben" and "ausgetragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgegraben vs ausgraben". 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 #1,799,944 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