goesvsGötzTell them apart

Quick tell: goes is a verb, Götz is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“goes” is a verb and “Götz” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,311
“goes” frequency rank
#11,060
“Götz” frequency rank
28371
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature goes Götz
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs go deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Where the eye mixes goes and Götz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
goes
4 ch
Götz

Visual trap between goes and Götz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: goes is [ɡəʊz] while Götz is [ɡœt͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

goes is recorded at frequency rank #17,311, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəʊz]. Götz is at rank #11,060, tagged as aname, pronounced [ɡœt͡s].

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 28371, this pair ranks #1,785,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of goes vs Götz

Shared letters: g. Private to "goes": eos. Private to "Götz": tzö.

"goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Götz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • goesgeos · ggoes · goess · gose · oges

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "goes" and "Götz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "goes" is a verb and "Götz" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "goes" or "Götz"?
"Götz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,060 in our German list, against #17,311 for "goes". 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 "goes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Götz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,785,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "goes" and "Götz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "goes vs gries". 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 #1,785,974 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