obivsocTell them apart

Quick tell: obi is a verb, oc is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“obi” is a verb and “oc” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,996
“obi” frequency rank
#26,989
“oc” frequency rank
45985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obi oc
Definition Imperativ Singular des Verbs obire der Gänserich, der Ganter; ein männlicher großer Vogel

Letter map: obi vs oc

Shared letters muted; letters that set obi and oc apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
obi
2 ch
oc

Role in the sentence - obi and oc

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: obi is averb and ocanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obi is recorded at frequency rank #18,996, classified as averb, pronounced […]. oc is at rank #26,989, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɔk].

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 45985, this pair ranks #1,334,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obi vs oc

Shared letters: o. Private to "obi": bi. Private to "oc": c.

"obi" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "oc" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "obi" for "oc" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "obi" is a verb and "oc" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "obi" vs "oc" - which ranks higher?
"obi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,996 in our German list, against #26,989 for "oc". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "obi" vs "oc" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "oc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,334,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obi" and "oc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oc vs OGH". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,334,451 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