ausleihenvsausweichenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,561
“ausleihen” frequency rank
#10,815
“ausweichen” frequency rank
26376
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausleihen ausweichen
Definition jemand(em) etwas borgen eine Bewegung machen, um einen Zusammenstoß zu vermeiden; jemandem Platz machen

Where the eye mixes ausleihen and ausweichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ausleihen runs 9 letters (VVCCVVCVC) against ausweichen's 10 (VVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
ausleihen
10 ch
ausweichen

Look-alike desk: ausleihen vs ausweichen

A purely visual mix-up. ausleihen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən]) and ausweichen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26376, 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]. ausweichen is at rank #10,815, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩].

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 26376, this pair ranks #1,819,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausleihen vs ausweichen

Shared letters: aehinsu. Private to "ausleihen": l. Private to "ausweichen": cw.

"ausleihen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausweichen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausleihen ← asuleihen · aulseihen · auselihen · auslehien · ausleiehn · ausleihenn · ausleihhen · ausleihne
  • ausweichen ← asuweichen · ausewichen · aussweichen · auswecihen · ausweicchen · ausweicehn · ausweichenn · ausweichhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausleihen" and "ausweichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausleihen" or "ausweichen"?
"ausweichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,815 in our German list, against #15,561 for "ausleihen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausleihen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausweichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,819,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausleihen" and "ausweichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausleihe vs ausleihen". 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 #1,819,101 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