ausgewähltvsausgezahltTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,957
“ausgewählt” frequency rank
#13,101
“ausgezahlt” frequency rank
18058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausgewählt ausgezahlt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auswählen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs auszahlen

Where the eye mixes ausgewählt and ausgezahlt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ausgewählt and ausgezahlt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
ausgewählt
10 ch
ausgezahlt

Visual trap between ausgewählt and ausgezahlt

A purely visual mix-up. ausgewählt ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɛːlt]) and ausgezahlt ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌt͡saːlt]) 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 18058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausgewählt is recorded at frequency rank #4,957, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɛːlt]. ausgezahlt is at rank #13,101, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌt͡saːlt].

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 18058, this pair ranks #1,921,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausgewählt vs ausgezahlt

Shared letters: aeghlstu. Private to "ausgewählt": wä. Private to "ausgezahlt": z.

"ausgewählt" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCC  ·  "ausgezahlt" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausgezahlt ← asugezahlt · augsezahlt · ausegzahlt · ausgeazhlt · ausgezahhlt · ausgezahllt · ausgezahltt · ausgezahtl

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausgewählt" and "ausgezahlt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɛːlt] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌt͡saːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ausgewählt" or "ausgezahlt" show up more?
"ausgewählt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,957 in our German list, against #13,101 for "ausgezahlt". 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 "ausgewählt" and "ausgezahlt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgewählt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgezahlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,921,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausgewählt" and "ausgezahlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgezahlt vs auszahlt". 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 #1,921,810 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