AuslesenvsausweisenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Auslesen is a noun, ausweisen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Auslesen” is a noun and “ausweisen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,942
“Auslesen” frequency rank
#16,917
“ausweisen” frequency rank
48859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Auslesen ausweisen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Auslese des Landes verweisen

Where the eye mixes Auslesen and ausweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Auslesen runs 8 letters (VVCCVCVC) against ausweisen's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Auslesen
9 ch
ausweisen

Look-alike desk: Auslesen vs ausweisen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Auslesen is [ˈaʊ̯sleːzn̩] while ausweisen is [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Auslesen is recorded at frequency rank #31,942, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sleːzn̩]. 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 48859, this pair ranks #1,232,946 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Auslesen vs ausweisen

Shared letters: aensu. Private to "Auslesen": l. Private to "ausweisen": iw.

"Auslesen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "ausweisen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Auslesen ← asulesen · aulsesen · auselsen · ausleesn · auslesenn · auslesne · auslessen · ausllesen
  • ausweisen ← asuweisen · ausewisen · aussweisen · ausweiesn · ausweisenn · ausweisne · ausweissen · auswesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Auslesen" for "ausweisen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Auslesen" is a noun and "ausweisen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Auslesen" or "ausweisen" show up more?
"ausweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,917 in our German list, against #31,942 for "Auslesen". 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 "Auslesen" and "ausweisen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Auslesen" 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 #1,232,946 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Auslesen" and "ausweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgelesen vs Auslesen". 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 #1,232,946 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