ausleihenvsausweisenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,561
“ausleihen” frequency rank
#16,917
“ausweisen” frequency rank
32478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausleihen ausweisen
Definition jemand(em) etwas borgen des Landes verweisen

Where the eye mixes ausleihen and ausweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ausleihen and ausweisen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
ausleihen
9 ch
ausweisen

Look-alike desk: ausleihen vs ausweisen

A purely visual mix-up. ausleihen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən]) and ausweisen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 32478, 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]. ausweisen is at rank #16,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 32478, this pair ranks #1,706,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausleihen vs ausweisen

Shared letters: aeinsu. Private to "ausleihen": hl. Private to "ausweisen": w.

"ausleihen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausweisen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausleihen ← asuleihen · aulseihen · auselihen · auslehien · ausleiehn · ausleihenn · ausleihhen · ausleihne
  • ausweisen ← asuweisen · ausewisen · aussweisen · ausweiesn · ausweisenn · ausweisne · ausweissen · auswesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausleihen" and "ausweisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausleihen" vs "ausweisen" - which ranks higher?
"ausleihen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,561 in our German list, against #16,917 for "ausweisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "ausweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,706,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausleihen" and "ausweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausweisen vs ausweist". 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 #1,706,735 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