ausweitenvsauszuweitenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,626
“ausweiten” frequency rank
#35,078
“auszuweiten” frequency rank
59704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausweiten auszuweiten
Definition etwas durch Benutzung dehnen und somit dauerhaft weiter machen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausweiten

Where the eye mixes ausweiten and auszuweiten

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

9 ch
ausweiten
11 ch
auszuweiten

Visual trap between ausweiten and auszuweiten

A purely visual mix-up. ausweiten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) and auszuweiten ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) 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 59704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausweiten is recorded at frequency rank #24,626, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩]. auszuweiten is at rank #35,078, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌvaɪ̯tn̩].

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 59704, this pair ranks #814,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ausweiten vs auszuweiten

Shared letters: aeinstuw. Private to "ausweiten": -. Private to "auszuweiten": z.

"ausweiten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "auszuweiten" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausweiten ← asuweiten · ausewiten · aussweiten · ausweietn · ausweitenn · ausweitne · ausweitten · auswetien
  • auszuweiten ← asuzuweiten · ausszuweiten · ausuzweiten · auszuewiten · auszuweietn · auszuweitenn · auszuweitne · auszuweitten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausweiten" and "auszuweiten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌvaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ausweiten" vs "auszuweiten" - which ranks higher?
"ausweiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,626 in our German list, against #35,078 for "auszuweiten". 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 "ausweiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszuweiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #814,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausweiten" and "auszuweiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszubeuten vs auszuweiten". 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 #814,516 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