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 eye mixes ausleihen and austeilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ausleihen and austeilen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses ausleihen with austeilen
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ausleihen" and "austeilen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "ausleihen" or "austeilen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ausleihen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "austeilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,053,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ausleihen" and "austeilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "austeilen vs austreiben". 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 #1,053,996 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.