ausleihenvsausweitenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,561
“ausleihen” frequency rank
#24,626
“ausweiten” frequency rank
40187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausleihen ausweiten
Definition jemand(em) etwas borgen etwas durch Benutzung dehnen und somit dauerhaft weiter machen

Where the eye mixes ausleihen and ausweiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ausleihen and ausweiten 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
ausweiten

Why the eye confuses ausleihen with ausweiten

A purely visual mix-up. ausleihen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən]) and ausweiten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) 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 40187, 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]. ausweiten is at rank #24,626, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩].

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 40187, this pair ranks #1,515,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausleihen vs ausweiten

Shared letters: aeinsu. Private to "ausleihen": hl. Private to "ausweiten": tw.

"ausleihen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausweiten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausleihen ← asuleihen · aulseihen · auselihen · auslehien · ausleiehn · ausleihenn · ausleihhen · ausleihne
  • ausweiten ← asuweiten · ausewiten · aussweiten · ausweietn · ausweitenn · ausweitne · ausweitten · auswetien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausleihen" and "ausweiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌlaɪ̯ən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausleihen" or "ausweiten"?
"ausleihen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,561 in our German list, against #24,626 for "ausweiten". 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 "ausleihen" and "ausweiten" 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 "ausweiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,515,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausleihen" and "ausweiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwerten vs ausweiten". 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 #1,515,650 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