Which to use
“ob” is a conjunction and “oft” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #139
- “ob” frequency rank
- #310
- “oft” frequency rank
- 449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ob | oft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | leitet indirekte Fragesätze sowie Ungewissheit, Zweifel oder dergleichen ausdrückende Nebensätze ein (in Form von Subjekt-, Objekt- und Attributsätzen) | viele Male (zu verschiedenen Zeiten) |
Where the eye mixes ob and oft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ob is [ɔp] while oft is [ɔft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ob is recorded at frequency rank #139, classified as aconj, pronounced [ɔp]. oft is at rank #310, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ɔft].
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 449, this pair ranks #2,005,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ob vs oft
Shared letters: o. Private to "ob": b. Private to "oft": ft.
"ob" · 2 letters · shape VC · "oft" · 3 letters · shape VCC