auszugehenvsauszulegenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,149
“auszugehen” frequency rank
#31,445
“auszulegen” frequency rank
40594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auszugehen auszulegen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs ausgehen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs auslegen

Where the eye mixes auszugehen and auszulegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. auszugehen and auszulegen 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
auszulegen

Why the eye confuses auszugehen with auszulegen

A purely visual mix-up. auszugehen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌɡeːən]) and auszulegen ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːɡn̩]) 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 40594, 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]. auszulegen is at rank #31,445, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːɡn̩].

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 40594, this pair ranks #1,503,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of auszugehen vs auszulegen

Shared letters: aegnsuz. Private to "auszugehen": h. Private to "auszulegen": l.

"auszugehen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC  ·  "auszulegen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auszugehenasuzugehen · ausszugehen · ausuzgehen · auszguehen · auszueghen · auszugeehn · auszugehenn · auszugehhen
  • auszulegenasuzulegen · ausszulegen · ausuzlegen · auszluegen · auszuelgen · auszuleegn · auszulegenn · auszuleggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "auszugehen" and "auszulegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌɡeːən] versus [ˈaʊ̯st͡suˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "auszugehen" vs "auszulegen" - which ranks higher?
"auszugehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,149 in our German list, against #31,445 for "auszulegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "auszulegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,503,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auszugehen" and "auszulegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auszulegen vs auszusagen". 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 #1,503,998 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