aussuchenvsauszusuchenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,439
“aussuchen” frequency rank
#33,986
“auszusuchen” frequency rank
41425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aussuchen auszusuchen
Definition eine (oder auch mehrere) Alternativen aus einer Vielzahl von Möglichkeiten wählen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs aussuchen

Where the eye mixes aussuchen and auszusuchen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aussuchen runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against auszusuchen's 11 (VVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
aussuchen
11 ch
auszusuchen

Why the eye confuses aussuchen with auszusuchen

A purely visual mix-up. aussuchen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌzuːxn̩]) and auszusuchen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌzuːxn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aussuchen is recorded at frequency rank #7,439, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌzuːxn̩]. auszusuchen is at rank #33,986, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌzuːxn̩].

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 41425, this pair ranks #1,479,825 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aussuchen vs auszusuchen

Shared letters: acehnsu. Private to "aussuchen": -. Private to "auszusuchen": z.

"aussuchen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "auszusuchen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aussuchen ← asusuchen · ausscuhen · aussucchen · aussucehn · aussuchenn · aussuchhen · aussuchne · aussuhcen
  • auszusuchen ← asuzusuchen · ausszusuchen · ausuzsuchen · auszsuuchen · auszuscuhen · auszussuchen · auszusucchen · auszusucehn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aussuchen" for "auszusuchen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌzuːxn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌzuːxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "aussuchen" or "auszusuchen" show up more?
"aussuchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,439 in our German list, against #33,986 for "auszusuchen". 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 "aussuchen" and "auszusuchen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aussuchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszusuchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,479,825 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aussuchen" and "auszusuchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszuruhen vs auszusuchen". 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 #1,479,825 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