auslegenvsausredenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#22,261
“auslegen” frequency rank
#10,231
“ausreden” frequency rank
32492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auslegen ausreden
Definition eine Fläche mehr oder weniger lückenlos mit flächigen Teilen bedecken jemanden dazu veranlassen, dass er seine Meinung oder ein Vorhaben aufgibt

Where the eye mixes auslegen and ausreden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. auslegen and ausreden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
auslegen
8 ch
ausreden

Visual trap between auslegen and ausreden

A purely visual mix-up. auslegen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩]) and ausreden ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁeːdn̩]) 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 32492, 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]. ausreden is at rank #10,231, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁeːdn̩].

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 32492, this pair ranks #1,706,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auslegen vs ausreden

Shared letters: aensu. Private to "auslegen": gl. Private to "ausreden": dr.

"auslegen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "ausreden" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auslegen ← asulegen · aulsegen · auselgen · ausleegn · auslegenn · ausleggen · auslegne · auslgeen
  • ausreden ← asureden · aurseden · auserden · ausrdeen · ausredden · ausredenn · ausredne · ausreedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "auslegen" and "ausreden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁeːdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "auslegen" or "ausreden" show up more?
"ausreden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,231 in our German list, against #22,261 for "auslegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "auslegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausreden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,706,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auslegen" and "ausreden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auslagen vs auslegen". 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 #1,706,437 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