austreibenvsaustretenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,490
“austreiben” frequency rank
#23,031
“austreten” frequency rank
69521
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature austreiben austreten
Definition Weidevieh auf die Weide treiben seinen Platz/Bereich die Grenze überschreitend verlassen; aus etwas heraustreten, herausströmen, hervorquellen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set austreiben and austreten apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
austreiben
9 ch
austreten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. austreiben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and austreten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁeːtn̩]) 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 69521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

austreiben is recorded at frequency rank #46,490, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. austreten is at rank #23,031, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁeːtn̩].

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 69521, this pair ranks #474,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of austreiben vs austreten

Shared letters: aenrstu. Private to "austreiben": bi. Private to "austreten": -.

"austreiben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC  ·  "austreten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • austreibenasutreiben · ausrteiben · ausstreiben · austeriben · austrebien · austreibben · austreibenn · austreibne
  • austretenasutreten · ausrteten · ausstreten · austerten · austreetn · austretenn · austretne · austretten

Frequency comparison

austreiben#46,490
austreten#23,031

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "austreiben" and "austreten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "austreiben" or "austreten"?
"austreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,031 in our German list, against #46,490 for "austreiben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering austreiben vs austreten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “austreiben” 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