Which to use
“Jesu” is an unknown and “Jesus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,501
- “Jesu” frequency rank
- #2,157
- “Jesus” frequency rank
- 7658
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Jesu | Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv des Eigennamens Jesus | Jesus von Nazareth, Jesus Christus, zentrale Gestalt im Christentum |
Where the eye mixes Jesu and Jesus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Jesu runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Jesus's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Jesu with Jesus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Jesu is [ˈjeːzu] while Jesus is [ˈjeːzʊs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Jesu” sits inside “Jesus”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Jesu is recorded at frequency rank #5,501, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈjeːzu]. Jesus is at rank #2,157, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈjeːzʊs].
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 7658, this pair ranks #1,987,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Jesu vs Jesus
Shared letters: ejsu. Private to "Jesu": -. Private to "Jesus": -.
"Jesu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Jesus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Jesu" for "Jesus" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Jesu" or "Jesus" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Jesu" and "Jesus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Jesu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Jesus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Jesu" and "Jesus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Jesu vs Josua". 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 #1,987,390 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.