ausleihenvsausteilenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,561
“ausleihen” frequency rank
#37,978
“austeilen” frequency rank
53539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausleihen austeilen
Definition jemand(em) etwas borgen Gegenstände an mehrere Personen verteilen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ausleihen and austeilen apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
ausleihen
9 ch
austeilen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ausleihen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən]) and austeilen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtaɪ̯lən]) 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 53539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausleihen is recorded at frequency rank #15,561, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən]. austeilen is at rank #37,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaɪ̯lən].

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 53539, this pair ranks #1,053,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausleihen vs austeilen

Shared letters: aeilnsu. Private to "ausleihen": h. Private to "austeilen": t.

"ausleihen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "austeilen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausleihenasuleihen · aulseihen · auselihen · auslehien · ausleiehn · ausleihenn · ausleihhen · ausleihne
  • austeilenasuteilen · ausetilen · aussteilen · austeieln · austeilenn · austeillen · austeilne · austelien

Frequency comparison

ausleihen#15,561
austeilen#37,978

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausleihen" and "austeilen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausleihen" or "austeilen"?
"ausleihen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,561 in our German list, against #37,978 for "austeilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ausleihen vs austeilen

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 “ausleihen” 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