austauschenvsauszutauschenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,680
“austauschen” frequency rank
#15,033
“auszutauschen” frequency rank
23713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature austauschen auszutauschen
Definition sich wechselseitig Gleichartiges geben erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs austauschen

Where the eye mixes austauschen and auszutauschen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. austauschen runs 11 letters (VVCCVVCCCVC) against auszutauschen's 13 (VVCCVCVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
austauschen
13 ch
auszutauschen

Look-alike desk: austauschen vs auszutauschen

A purely visual mix-up. austauschen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩]) and auszutauschen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩]) 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 23713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

austauschen is recorded at frequency rank #8,680, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩]. auszutauschen is at rank #15,033, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩].

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 23713, this pair ranks #1,857,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of austauschen vs auszutauschen

Shared letters: acehnstu. Private to "austauschen": -. Private to "auszutauschen": z.

"austauschen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC  ·  "auszutauschen" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • austauschen ← asutauschen · ausatuschen · ausstauschen · austasuchen · austaucshen · austauscchen · austauscehn · austauschenn
  • auszutauschen ← asuzutauschen · ausszutauschen · ausuztauschen · ausztuauschen · auszuatuschen · auszutasuchen · auszutaucshen · auszutauscchen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "austauschen" and "auszutauschen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌtaʊ̯ʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "austauschen" vs "auszutauschen" - which ranks higher?
"austauschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,680 in our German list, against #15,033 for "auszutauschen". 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 "austauschen" and "auszutauschen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "austauschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszutauschen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,857,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "austauschen" and "auszutauschen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auftauchen vs austauschen". 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 #1,857,626 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