AusweisvsausweisenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#7,576
“Ausweis” frequency rank
#16,917
“ausweisen” frequency rank
24493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ausweis ausweisen
Definition Dokument, das als Bestätigung oder Legitimation ausgestellt worden ist und Angaben zur betreffenden Person enthält des Landes verweisen

Where the eye mixes Ausweis and ausweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Ausweis runs 7 letters (VVCCVVC) against ausweisen's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Ausweis
9 ch
ausweisen

Look-alike desk: Ausweis vs ausweisen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ausweis is [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯s] while ausweisen is [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Ausweis” sits inside “ausweisen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24493, 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]. ausweisen is at rank #16,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 24493, this pair ranks #1,846,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ausweis vs ausweisen

Shared letters: aeisuw. Private to "Ausweis": -. Private to "ausweisen": n.

"Ausweis" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC  ·  "ausweisen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ausweis ← asuweis · ausewis · aussweis · ausweiss · auswesi · auswies · auswweis · auwseis
  • ausweisen ← asuweisen · ausewisen · aussweisen · ausweiesn · ausweisenn · ausweisne · ausweissen · auswesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ausweis" for "ausweisen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ausweis" is a noun and "ausweisen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Ausweis" or "ausweisen" show up more?
"Ausweis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,576 in our German list, against #16,917 for "ausweisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausweis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,846,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ausweis" and "ausweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausweisen 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 #1,846,833 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