ausländischevsausländischenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,247
“ausländische” frequency rank
#5,341
“ausländischen” frequency rank
10588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausländische ausländischen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ausländisch Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ausländisch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ausländische and ausländischen apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
ausländische
13 ch
ausländischen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ausländische ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃə]) and ausländischen ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃn̩]) 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) - “ausländische” sits inside “ausländischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausländische is recorded at frequency rank #5,247, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃə]. ausländischen is at rank #5,341, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃn̩].

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 10588, this pair ranks #1,974,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausländische vs ausländischen

Shared letters: acdehilnsuä. Private to "ausländische": -. Private to "ausländischen": -.

"ausländische" · 12 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCCV  ·  "ausländischen" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCCVC

Frequency comparison

ausländische#5,247
ausländischen#5,341

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausländische" and "ausländischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃə] versus [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausländische" or "ausländischen"?
"ausländische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,247 in our German list, against #5,341 for "ausländischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ausländische vs ausländischen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ausländische” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list