AusweisvsAusweiseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,576
“Ausweis” frequency rank
#25,902
“Ausweise” frequency rank
33478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ausweis Ausweise
Definition Dokument, das als Bestätigung oder Legitimation ausgestellt worden ist und Angaben zur betreffenden Person enthält Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Ausweis

Where the eye mixes Ausweis and Ausweise

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

7 ch
Ausweis
8 ch
Ausweise

Look-alike desk: Ausweis vs Ausweise

A purely visual mix-up. Ausweis ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯s]) and Ausweise ([ˈaʊ̯svaɪ̯zə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Ausweis” sits inside “Ausweise”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ausweis is recorded at frequency rank #7,576, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯s]. Ausweise is at rank #25,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯svaɪ̯zə].

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 33478, this pair ranks #1,685,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ausweis vs Ausweise

Shared letters: aeisuw. Private to "Ausweis": -. Private to "Ausweise": -.

"Ausweis" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC  ·  "Ausweise" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ausweis ← asuweis · ausewis · aussweis · ausweiss · auswesi · auswies · auswweis · auwseis
  • Ausweise ← asuweise · ausewise · aussweise · ausweies · ausweisse · auswesie · auswiese · auswweise

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ausweis" and "Ausweise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯s] versus [ˈaʊ̯svaɪ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ausweis" or "Ausweise" show up more?
"Ausweis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,576 in our German list, against #25,902 for "Ausweise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausweis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausweise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,685,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ausweis" and "Ausweise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ausweise vs ausweist". 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 #1,685,160 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