ausruhenvsaussuchenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,772
“ausruhen” frequency rank
#7,439
“aussuchen” frequency rank
21211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausruhen aussuchen
Definition sich erholen, entspannen eine (oder auch mehrere) Alternativen aus einer Vielzahl von Möglichkeiten wählen

Where the eye mixes ausruhen and aussuchen

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

8 ch
ausruhen
9 ch
aussuchen

Visual trap between ausruhen and aussuchen

A purely visual mix-up. ausruhen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁuːən]) and aussuchen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌzuːxn̩]) 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 21211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausruhen is recorded at frequency rank #13,772, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁuːən]. aussuchen is at rank #7,439, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌzuːxn̩].

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 21211, this pair ranks #1,888,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausruhen vs aussuchen

Shared letters: aehnsu. Private to "ausruhen": r. Private to "aussuchen": c.

"ausruhen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "aussuchen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausruhen ← asuruhen · aursuhen · ausrhuen · ausrruhen · ausruehn · ausruhenn · ausruhhen · ausruhne
  • aussuchen ← asusuchen · ausscuhen · aussucchen · aussucehn · aussuchenn · aussuchhen · aussuchne · aussuhcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausruhen" and "aussuchen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁuːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌzuːxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausruhen" vs "aussuchen" - which ranks higher?
"aussuchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,439 in our German list, against #13,772 for "ausruhen". 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 "ausruhen" and "aussuchen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausruhen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aussuchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,888,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausruhen" and "aussuchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausruhen vs auszuruhen". 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 #1,888,934 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