auslebenvsauszulebenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,357
“ausleben” frequency rank
#43,034
“auszuleben” frequency rank
59391
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausleben auszuleben
Definition eine Absicht in die Tat umsetzen und längere Zeit verwirklichen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausleben

Where the eye mixes ausleben and auszuleben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ausleben runs 8 letters (VVCCVCVC) against auszuleben's 10 (VVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ausleben
10 ch
auszuleben

Visual trap between ausleben and auszuleben

A purely visual mix-up. ausleben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩]) and auszuleben ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːbn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausleben is recorded at frequency rank #16,357, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩]. auszuleben is at rank #43,034, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːbn̩].

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 59391, this pair ranks #826,246 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausleben vs auszuleben

Shared letters: abelnsu. Private to "ausleben": -. Private to "auszuleben": z.

"ausleben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "auszuleben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auslebenasuleben · aulseben · auselben · auslbeen · auslebben · auslebenn · auslebne · ausleebn
  • auszulebenasuzuleben · ausszuleben · ausuzleben · auszlueben · auszuelben · auszulbeen · auszulebben · auszulebenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausleben" for "auszuleben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausleben" vs "auszuleben" - which ranks higher?
"ausleben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,357 in our German list, against #43,034 for "auszuleben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "ausleben" and "auszuleben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausleben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszuleben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #826,246 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausleben" and "auszuleben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszuleben vs auszulegen". 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 #826,246 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