ausstehenvsausstellenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,452
“ausstehen” frequency rank
#16,360
“ausstellen” frequency rank
41812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausstehen ausstellen
Definition erwartet werden, aber noch fehlen etwas zur Schau stellen

Where the eye mixes ausstehen and ausstellen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ausstehen runs 9 letters (VVCCCVCVC) against ausstellen's 10 (VVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
ausstehen
10 ch
ausstellen

Look-alike desk: ausstehen vs ausstellen

A purely visual mix-up. ausstehen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʃteːən]) and ausstellen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʃtɛlən]) 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 41812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausstehen is recorded at frequency rank #25,452, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʃteːən]. ausstellen is at rank #16,360, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʃtɛlən].

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 41812, this pair ranks #1,468,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausstehen vs ausstellen

Shared letters: aenstu. Private to "ausstehen": h. Private to "ausstellen": l.

"ausstehen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCCVCVC  ·  "ausstellen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausstehen ← asustehen · aussethen · aussteehn · ausstehenn · ausstehhen · ausstehne · ausstheen · aussttehen
  • ausstellen ← asustellen · aussetllen · aussteleln · ausstelen · ausstellenn · ausstellne · ausstlelen · aussttellen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausstehen" for "ausstellen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʃteːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʃtɛlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ausstehen" or "ausstellen"?
"ausstellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,360 in our German list, against #25,452 for "ausstehen". 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 "ausstehen" and "ausstellen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausstehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausstellen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,468,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausstehen" and "ausstellen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aussehend vs ausstehen". 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 #1,468,318 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