ausreichenvsausrichtenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,232
“ausreichen” frequency rank
#9,148
“ausrichten” frequency rank
19380
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausreichen ausrichten
Definition genügen, zufriedenstellend sein eine Richtung geben, justieren

Where the eye mixes ausreichen and ausrichten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ausreichen (VVCCVVCCVC) and ausrichten (VVCCVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
ausreichen
10 ch
ausrichten

Look-alike desk: ausreichen vs ausrichten

A purely visual mix-up. ausreichen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaɪ̯çn̩]) and ausrichten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɪçtn̩]) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausreichen is recorded at frequency rank #10,232, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaɪ̯çn̩]. ausrichten is at rank #9,148, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɪçtn̩].

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 19380, this pair ranks #1,908,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausreichen vs ausrichten

Shared letters: acehinrsu. Private to "ausreichen": -. Private to "ausrichten": t.

"ausreichen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVVCCVC  ·  "ausrichten" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausreichenasureichen · aurseichen · auserichen · ausrecihen · ausreicchen · ausreicehn · ausreichenn · ausreichhen
  • ausrichtenasurichten · aursichten · ausirchten · ausrcihten · ausricchten · ausrichetn · ausrichhten · ausrichtenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausreichen" for "ausrichten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁɪçtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ausreichen" or "ausrichten" show up more?
"ausrichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,148 in our German list, against #10,232 for "ausreichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausreichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausrichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,908,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausreichen" and "ausrichten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausrichten vs ausrichtet". 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 #1,908,933 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