Which to use
“auslegen” is a verb and “Auslesen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,261
- “auslegen” frequency rank
- #31,942
- “Auslesen” frequency rank
- 54203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | auslegen | Auslesen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Fläche mehr oder weniger lückenlos mit flächigen Teilen bedecken | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Auslese |
Where the eye mixes auslegen and Auslesen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. auslegen and Auslesen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: auslegen vs Auslesen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: auslegen is [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩] while Auslesen is [ˈaʊ̯sleːzn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “auslegen” becomes s in “Auslesen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
auslegen is recorded at frequency rank #22,261, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩]. Auslesen is at rank #31,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sleːzn̩].
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 54203, this pair ranks #1,028,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of auslegen vs Auslesen
Shared letters: aelnsu. Private to "auslegen": g. Private to "Auslesen": -.
"auslegen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC · "Auslesen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "auslegen" for "Auslesen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "auslegen" or "Auslesen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "auslegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Auslesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,028,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "auslegen" and "Auslesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgelesen vs Auslesen". 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 #1,028,070 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.