auszugehenvsauszulebenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,149
“auszugehen” frequency rank
#43,034
“auszuleben” frequency rank
52183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auszugehen auszuleben
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausgehen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausleben

Where the eye mixes auszugehen and auszuleben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. auszugehen and auszuleben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
auszugehen
10 ch
auszuleben

Visual trap between auszugehen and auszuleben

A purely visual mix-up. auszugehen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌɡeːən]) and auszuleben ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auszugehen is recorded at frequency rank #9,149, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌɡeːən]. auszuleben is at rank #43,034, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːbn̩].

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 52183, this pair ranks #1,106,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of auszugehen vs auszuleben

Shared letters: aensuz. Private to "auszugehen": gh. Private to "auszuleben": bl.

"auszugehen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC  ·  "auszuleben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auszugehenasuzugehen · ausszugehen · ausuzgehen · auszguehen · auszueghen · auszugeehn · auszugehenn · auszugehhen
  • auszulebenasuzuleben · ausszuleben · ausuzleben · auszlueben · auszuelben · auszulbeen · auszulebben · auszulebenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "auszugehen" for "auszuleben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌɡeːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "auszugehen" or "auszuleben" show up more?
"auszugehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,149 in our German list, against #43,034 for "auszuleben". 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 "auszugehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auszuleben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,106,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auszugehen" and "auszuleben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszuleben vs auszulegen". 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 #1,106,826 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