AuswahlvsauszahltWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,152
“Auswahl” frequency rank
#46,491
“auszahlt” frequency rank
47643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Auswahl auszahlt
Definition der Vorgang, bei dem etwas mit gewünschten Merkmalen aus einer Menge entnommen wird 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs auszahlen

Where the eye mixes Auswahl and auszahlt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Auswahl runs 7 letters (VVCCVCC) against auszahlt's 8 (VVCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Auswahl
8 ch
auszahlt

Visual trap between Auswahl and auszahlt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Auswahl is [ˈaʊ̯svaːl] while auszahlt is [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saːlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Auswahl is recorded at frequency rank #1,152, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯svaːl]. auszahlt is at rank #46,491, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saːlt].

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 47643, this pair ranks #1,277,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Auswahl vs auszahlt

Shared letters: ahlsu. Private to "Auswahl": w. Private to "auszahlt": tz.

"Auswahl" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "auszahlt" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Auswahl ← asuwahl · ausawhl · ausswahl · auswahhl · auswahll · auswalh · auswhal · auswwahl
  • auszahlt ← asuzahlt · ausazhlt · ausszahlt · auszahhlt · auszahllt · auszahltt · auszahtl · auszalht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Auswahl" and "auszahlt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Auswahl" is a noun and "auszahlt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Auswahl" vs "auszahlt" - which ranks higher?
"Auswahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,152 in our German list, against #46,491 for "auszahlt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Auswahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszahlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,277,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Auswahl" and "auszahlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auswählt vs auszahlt". 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 #1,277,106 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