AusgrabungvsAusgrabungenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#44,463
“Ausgrabung” frequency rank
#20,840
“Ausgrabungen” frequency rank
65303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ausgrabung Ausgrabungen
Definition die Stelle, an der Ruinen oder Fossilien freigelegt wurden Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ausgrabung

Where the eye mixes Ausgrabung and Ausgrabungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Ausgrabung runs 10 letters (VVCCCVCVCC) against Ausgrabungen's 12 (VVCCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Ausgrabung
12 ch
Ausgrabungen

Visual trap between Ausgrabung and Ausgrabungen

A purely visual mix-up. Ausgrabung ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡʁaːbʊŋ]) and Ausgrabungen ([ˈaʊ̯sɡʁaːbʊŋən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Ausgrabung” sits inside “Ausgrabungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ausgrabung is recorded at frequency rank #44,463, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌɡʁaːbʊŋ]. Ausgrabungen is at rank #20,840, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡʁaːbʊŋən].

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 65303, this pair ranks #611,561 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ausgrabung vs Ausgrabungen

Shared letters: abgnrsu. Private to "Ausgrabung": -. Private to "Ausgrabungen": e.

"Ausgrabung" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCVCC  ·  "Ausgrabungen" · 12 letters · shape VVCCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ausgrabung ← asugrabung · augsrabung · ausgarbung · ausggrabung · ausgrabbung · ausgrabnug · ausgrabugn · ausgrabungg
  • Ausgrabungen ← asugrabungen · augsrabungen · ausgarbungen · ausggrabungen · ausgrabbungen · ausgrabnugen · ausgrabugnen · ausgrabunegn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ausgrabung" and "Ausgrabungen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌɡʁaːbʊŋ] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡʁaːbʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ausgrabung" or "Ausgrabungen" show up more?
"Ausgrabungen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,840 in our German list, against #44,463 for "Ausgrabung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausgrabung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausgrabungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #611,561 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ausgrabung" and "Ausgrabungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgraben vs Ausgrabung". 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 #611,561 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