ausweichenvsauszuweichenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,815
“ausweichen” frequency rank
#23,842
“auszuweichen” frequency rank
34657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausweichen auszuweichen
Definition eine Bewegung machen, um einen Zusammenstoß zu vermeiden; jemandem Platz machen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausweichen

Where the eye mixes ausweichen and auszuweichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
ausweichen
12 ch
auszuweichen

Look-alike desk: ausweichen vs auszuweichen

A purely visual mix-up. ausweichen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) and auszuweichen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) 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 34657, 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]. auszuweichen is at rank #23,842, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌvaɪ̯çn̩].

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 34657, this pair ranks #1,658,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausweichen vs auszuweichen

Shared letters: acehinsuw. Private to "ausweichen": -. Private to "auszuweichen": z.

"ausweichen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVVCCVC  ·  "auszuweichen" · 12 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausweichenasuweichen · ausewichen · aussweichen · auswecihen · ausweicchen · ausweicehn · ausweichenn · ausweichhen
  • auszuweichenasuzuweichen · ausszuweichen · ausuzweichen · auszuewichen · auszuwecihen · auszuweicchen · auszuweicehn · auszuweichenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ausweichen" and "auszuweichen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausweichen" vs "auszuweichen" - which ranks higher?
"ausweichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,815 in our German list, against #23,842 for "auszuweichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausweichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszuweichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,658,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausweichen" and "auszuweichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszuweichen vs auszuweisen". 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 #1,658,274 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