ausweichenvsauszeichnenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,815
“ausweichen” frequency rank
#20,177
“auszeichnen” frequency rank
30992
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausweichen auszeichnen
Definition eine Bewegung machen, um einen Zusammenstoß zu vermeiden; jemandem Platz machen jemanden bevorzugt behandeln, indem man ihm/ihr etwas Positives zukommen lässt

Where the eye mixes ausweichen and auszeichnen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ausweichen runs 10 letters (VVCCVVCCVC) against auszeichnen's 11 (VVCCVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
ausweichen
11 ch
auszeichnen

Look-alike desk: ausweichen vs auszeichnen

A purely visual mix-up. ausweichen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) and auszeichnen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnən]) 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 30992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausweichen is recorded at frequency rank #10,815, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩]. auszeichnen is at rank #20,177, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnən].

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 30992, this pair ranks #1,736,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausweichen vs auszeichnen

Shared letters: acehinsu. Private to "ausweichen": w. Private to "auszeichnen": z.

"ausweichen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVVCCVC  ·  "auszeichnen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausweichen ← asuweichen · ausewichen · aussweichen · auswecihen · ausweicchen · ausweicehn · ausweichenn · ausweichhen
  • auszeichnen ← asuzeichnen · ausezichnen · ausszeichnen · auszecihnen · auszeicchnen · auszeichenn · auszeichhnen · auszeichnenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausweichen" and "auszeichnen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ausweichen" or "auszeichnen" show up more?
"ausweichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,815 in our German list, against #20,177 for "auszeichnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "ausweichen" and "auszeichnen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausweichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszeichnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,736,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausweichen" and "auszeichnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausrechnen vs auszeichnen". 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 #1,736,934 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