Which to use
“Gans” is a noun and “goss” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,997
- “Gans” frequency rank
- #34,706
- “goss” frequency rank
- 51703
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gans | goss |
|---|---|---|
| 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) | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gießen |
Where the eye mixes Gans and goss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Gans and goss
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gans is [ɡans] while goss is [ɡɔs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51703, 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]. goss is at rank #34,706, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡɔs].
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 51703, this pair ranks #1,125,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Gans vs goss
Shared letters: gs. Private to "Gans": an. Private to "goss": o.
"Gans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "goss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gans" for "goss" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Gans" vs "goss" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Gans" and "goss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "goss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,125,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gans" and "goss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Goch vs goss". 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 #1,125,328 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.