auszeichnenvsauszeichnetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,177
“auszeichnen” frequency rank
#19,828
“auszeichnet” frequency rank
40005
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auszeichnen auszeichnet
Definition jemanden bevorzugt behandeln, indem man ihm/ihr etwas Positives zukommen lässt 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs auszeichnen

Where the eye mixes auszeichnen and auszeichnet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. auszeichnen and auszeichnet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
auszeichnen
11 ch
auszeichnet

Why the eye confuses auszeichnen with auszeichnet

A purely visual mix-up. auszeichnen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnən]) and auszeichnet ([ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnət]) 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 a single letter - n in “auszeichnen” becomes t in “auszeichnet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auszeichnen is recorded at frequency rank #20,177, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnən]. auszeichnet is at rank #19,828, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnət].

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 40005, this pair ranks #1,520,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auszeichnen vs auszeichnet

Shared letters: acehinsuz. Private to "auszeichnen": -. Private to "auszeichnet": t.

"auszeichnen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC  ·  "auszeichnet" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auszeichnen ← asuzeichnen · ausezichnen · ausszeichnen · auszecihnen · auszeicchnen · auszeichenn · auszeichhnen · auszeichnenn
  • auszeichnet ← asuzeichnet · ausezichnet · ausszeichnet · auszecihnet · auszeicchnet · auszeichent · auszeichhnet · auszeichnett

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "auszeichnen" for "auszeichnet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnən] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌt͡saɪ̯çnət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "auszeichnen" vs "auszeichnet" - which ranks higher?
"auszeichnet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,828 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 "auszeichnen" and "auszeichnet" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "auszeichnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszeichnet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,520,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auszeichnen" and "auszeichnet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzeichnet vs auszeichnet". 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 #1,520,709 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