GansvsgodsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,997
“Gans” frequency rank
#40,572
“gods” frequency rank
57569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gans gods
Definition eine ganze Reihe von nicht unmittelbar verwandten Gattungen der Gänsevögel (Halslänge zwischen Ente und Schwan, Beine nicht ganz so kurz wie bei den Enten) Plural des Substantivs god

Where the eye mixes Gans and gods

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Gans
4 ch
gods

Look-alike desk: Gans vs gods

A purely visual mix-up. Gans ([ɡans]) and gods ([ɡɒdz]) 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 57569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gans is recorded at frequency rank #16,997, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡans]. gods is at rank #40,572, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡɒdz].

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 57569, this pair ranks #896,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gans vs gods

Shared letters: gs. Private to "Gans": an. Private to "gods": do.

"Gans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "gods" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gansagns · ganns · ganss · gasn · ggans · gnas
  • godsgdos · ggods · godds · godss · gosd · ogds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gans" and "gods" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡans] versus [ɡɒdz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gans" or "gods"?
"Gans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,997 in our German list, against #40,572 for "gods". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gods" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #896,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gans" and "gods" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Goch vs gods". 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 #896,395 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