challengevschampionsConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#7,739
“challenge” frequency rank
#4,501
“champions” frequency rank
12240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature challenge champions
Definition Herausforderung 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs champion

Letter map: challenge vs champions

Shared letters muted; letters that set challenge and champions apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. challenge (CCVCCVCCV) and champions (CCVCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
challenge
9 ch
champions

Role in the sentence - challenge and champions

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: challenge is anoun and championsaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

challenge is recorded at frequency rank #7,739, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. champions is at rank #4,501, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 12240, this pair ranks #1,965,382 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of challenge vs champions

Shared letters: achn. Private to "challenge": egl. Private to "champions": imops.

"challenge" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCV  ·  "champions" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • challenge ← cahllenge · cchallenge · chalelnge · chalenge · challegne · challeneg · challengge · challennge
  • champions ← cahmpions · cchampions · chamipons · chammpions · champinos · championns · championss · champiosn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "challenge" for "champions" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "challenge" is a noun and "champions" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "challenge" or "champions" show up more?
"champions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,501 in our German list, against #7,739 for "challenge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "challenge" and "champions".

  • Full dictionary entry for "challenge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "champions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,965,382 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "challenge" and "champions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "challenge vs puzzles". 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 #1,965,382 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