ausländischervsausländischesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,602
“ausländischer” frequency rank
#36,810
“ausländisches” frequency rank
48412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausländischer ausländisches
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs 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 ausländischer and ausländisches apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

13 ch
ausländischer
13 ch
ausländisches

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ausländischer ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃɐ]) 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 - r in “ausländischer” becomes s in “ausländisches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48412, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausländischer is recorded at frequency rank #11,602, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃɐ]. 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 48412, this pair ranks #1,249,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausländischer vs ausländisches

Shared letters: acdehilnsuä. Private to "ausländischer": r. Private to "ausländisches": -.

"ausländischer" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCCVC  ·  "ausländisches" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCCCVC

Frequency comparison

ausländischer#11,602
ausländisches#36,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausländischer" and "ausländisches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃɐ] versus [ˈaʊ̯slɛndɪʃəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausländischer" or "ausländisches"?
"ausländischer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,602 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 ausländischer 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 “ausländischer” 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