Which to use
“gekauft” and “gesaugt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,451
- “gekauft” frequency rank
- #43,914
- “gesaugt” frequency rank
- 45365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gekauft | gesaugt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs kaufen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs saugen |
Where the eye mixes gekauft and gesaugt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gekauft and gesaugt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gekauft with gesaugt
A purely visual mix-up. gekauft ([ɡəˈkaʊ̯ft]) and gesaugt ([ɡəˈzaʊ̯kt]) 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 45365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gekauft is recorded at frequency rank #1,451, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈkaʊ̯ft]. gesaugt is at rank #43,914, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzaʊ̯kt].
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 45365, this pair ranks #1,355,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gekauft vs gesaugt
Shared letters: aegtu. Private to "gekauft": fk. Private to "gesaugt": s.
"gekauft" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "gesaugt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gekauft" for "gesaugt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gekauft" or "gesaugt"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gekauft" and "gesaugt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gekauft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gesaugt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,355,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gekauft" and "gesaugt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gerügt vs gesaugt". 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 #1,355,503 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.