AustauschvsaustauschenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Austausch is a noun, austauschen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Austausch” is a noun and “austauschen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,941
“Austausch” frequency rank
#8,680
“austauschen” frequency rank
12621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Austausch austauschen
Definition Wechsel von Gegenständen, Personen oder Gedanken sich wechselseitig Gleichartiges geben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Austausch and austauschen apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
Austausch
11 ch
austauschen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Austausch is [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃ] while austauschen is [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Austausch” sits inside “austauschen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Austausch is recorded at frequency rank #3,941, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃ]. austauschen is at rank #8,680, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩].

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 12621, this pair ranks #1,963,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Austausch vs austauschen

Shared letters: achstu. Private to "Austausch": -. Private to "austauschen": en.

"Austausch" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCCC  ·  "austauschen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Austauschasutausch · ausatusch · ausstausch · austasuch · austaucsh · austauscch · austauschh · austaushc
  • austauschenasutauschen · ausatuschen · ausstauschen · austasuchen · austaucshen · austauscchen · austauscehn · austauschenn

Frequency comparison

Austausch#3,941
austauschen#8,680

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Austausch" and "austauschen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Austausch" is a noun and "austauschen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Austausch" or "austauschen"?
"Austausch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,941 in our German list, against #8,680 for "austauschen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Austausch vs austauschen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Austausch”; for a verb, it's “austauschen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Austausch” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list