obvsOrtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ob is a conjunction, Ort is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ob” is a conjunction and “Ort” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#139
“ob” frequency rank
#422
“Ort” frequency rank
561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ob Ort
Definition leitet indirekte Fragesätze sowie Ungewissheit, Zweifel oder dergleichen ausdrückende Nebensätze ein (in Form von Subjekt-, Objekt- und Attributsätzen) lokalisierbarer, begrenzter Platz, definierte Stelle (punktförmig oder ausgedehnt) auf einer Fläche oder im Raum

Where the eye mixes ob and Ort

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

2 ch
ob
3 ch
Ort

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ob is [ɔp] while Ort is [ɔʁt]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ob is recorded at frequency rank #139, classified as aconj, pronounced [ɔp]. Ort is at rank #422, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɔʁt].

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 561, this pair ranks #2,005,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ob vs Ort

Shared letters: o. Private to "ob": b. Private to "Ort": rt.

"ob" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "Ort" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ob" and "Ort" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ob" is a conjunction and "Ort" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ob" or "Ort"?
"ob" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #139 in our German list, against #422 for "Ort". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list