auslaufenvsausraubenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,226
“auslaufen” frequency rank
#31,943
“ausrauben” frequency rank
49169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auslaufen ausrauben
Definition als Flüssigkeit aus einer Öffnung austreten jemandem alles wegnehmen; etwas vollständig (von Wertvollem) leeren

Where the eye mixes auslaufen and ausrauben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. auslaufen and ausrauben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
auslaufen
9 ch
ausrauben

Why the eye confuses auslaufen with ausrauben

A purely visual mix-up. auslaufen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaʊ̯fn̩]) and ausrauben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaʊ̯bn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auslaufen is recorded at frequency rank #17,226, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. ausrauben is at rank #31,943, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaʊ̯bn̩].

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 49169, this pair ranks #1,221,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of auslaufen vs ausrauben

Shared letters: aensu. Private to "auslaufen": fl. Private to "ausrauben": br.

"auslaufen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausrauben" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auslaufen ← asulaufen · aulsaufen · ausalufen · auslafuen · auslauefn · auslaufenn · auslauffen · auslaufne
  • ausrauben ← asurauben · aursauben · ausaruben · ausrabuen · ausraubben · ausraubenn · ausraubne · ausrauebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "auslaufen" and "ausrauben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaʊ̯fn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaʊ̯bn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "auslaufen" vs "ausrauben" - which ranks higher?
"auslaufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,226 in our German list, against #31,943 for "ausrauben". 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 "auslaufen" and "ausrauben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "auslaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausrauben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,221,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auslaufen" and "ausrauben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abstauben vs ausrauben". 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 #1,221,552 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