aussahenvsauswählenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,944
“aussahen” frequency rank
#10,615
“auswählen” frequency rank
42559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aussahen auswählen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aussehen sich für eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten entscheiden

Where the eye mixes aussahen and auswählen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aussahen 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
aussahen
9 ch
auswählen

Look-alike desk: aussahen vs auswählen

A purely visual mix-up. aussahen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌzaːən]) 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 42559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aussahen is recorded at frequency rank #31,944, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌzaːən]. 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 42559, this pair ranks #1,445,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aussahen vs auswählen

Shared letters: aehnsu. Private to "aussahen": -. Private to "auswählen": lwä.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aussahen ← asusahen · ausahen · ausashen · aussaehn · aussahenn · aussahhen · aussahne · ausshaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aussahen" and "auswählen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌzaːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvɛːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aussahen" 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 #31,944 for "aussahen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "aussahen" and "auswählen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aussahen" 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 #1,445,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aussahen" and "auswählen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aussahen vs aussehend". 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 #1,445,631 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