ausländischenvsausländischesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,341
“ausländischen” frequency rank
#36,810
“ausländisches” frequency rank
42151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausländischen ausländisches
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ausländisch Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ausländisch

Where the spellings diverge

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

13 ch
ausländischen
13 ch
ausländisches

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ausländischen ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃn̩]) and ausländisches ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃəs]) 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 a single letter - n in “ausländischen” becomes s in “ausländisches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausländischen is recorded at frequency rank #5,341, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃn̩]. ausländisches is at rank #36,810, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃəs].

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 42151, this pair ranks #1,458,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausländischen vs ausländisches

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

"ausländischen" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCCVC  ·  "ausländisches" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCCVC

Frequency comparison

ausländischen#5,341
ausländisches#36,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausländischen" and "ausländisches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausländischen" or "ausländisches"?
"ausländischen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,341 in our German list, against #36,810 for "ausländisches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ausländischen vs ausländisches

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 “ausländischen” 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