ausmalenvsauswählenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,311
“ausmalen” frequency rank
#10,615
“auswählen” frequency rank
36926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausmalen auswählen
Definition einen Innenraum kolorieren sich für eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten entscheiden

Where the eye mixes ausmalen and auswählen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ausmalen runs 8 letters (VVCCVCVC) against auswählen's 9 (VVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ausmalen
9 ch
auswählen

Visual trap between ausmalen and auswählen

A purely visual mix-up. ausmalen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌmaːlən]) and auswählen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən]) 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 36926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausmalen is recorded at frequency rank #26,311, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌmaːlən]. auswählen is at rank #10,615, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən].

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 36926, this pair ranks #1,603,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausmalen vs auswählen

Shared letters: aelnsu. Private to "ausmalen": m. Private to "auswählen": hwä.

"ausmalen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "auswählen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausmalen ← asumalen · aumsalen · ausamlen · ausmaeln · ausmalenn · ausmallen · ausmalne · ausmlaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausmalen" and "auswählen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌmaːlən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausmalen" vs "auswählen" - which ranks higher?
"auswählen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,615 in our German list, against #26,311 for "ausmalen". 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 "ausmalen" and "auswählen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausmalen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auswählen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,603,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausmalen" and "auswählen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausbaden vs ausmalen". 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 #1,603,145 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