AusländervsAusländernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,796
“Ausländer” frequency rank
#14,011
“Ausländern” frequency rank
17807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ausländer Ausländern
Definition Person aus dem Ausland (Herkunft aus einem anderen Land) Dativ Plural des Substantivs Ausländer

Where the eye mixes Ausländer and Ausländern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Ausländer runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against Ausländern's 10 (VVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Ausländer
10 ch
Ausländern

Visual trap between Ausländer and Ausländern

A purely visual mix-up. Ausländer ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlɛndɐ]) and Ausländern ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlɛndɐn]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Ausländer” sits inside “Ausländern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ausländer is recorded at frequency rank #3,796, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌlɛndɐ]. Ausländern is at rank #14,011, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌlɛndɐn].

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 17807, this pair ranks #1,924,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ausländer vs Ausländern

Shared letters: adelnrsuä. Private to "Ausländer": -. Private to "Ausländern": -.

"Ausländer" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "Ausländern" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ausländer" and "Ausländern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlɛndɐ] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌlɛndɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ausländer" vs "Ausländern" - which ranks higher?
"Ausländer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,796 in our German list, against #14,011 for "Ausländern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausländer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausländern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ausländer" and "Ausländern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aushandeln vs Ausländern". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,924,077 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