ObstvsOsConfusable pair

Which to use

“Obst” and “Os” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,545
“Obst” frequency rank
#6,701
“Os” frequency rank
11246
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Obst Os
Definition roh essbare, meist saftige Früchte, die von Bäumen, Sträuchern und mehrjährigen Stauden stammen, mit überwiegend süßlichem oder säuerlichem, „fruchtigem“ Geschmack wallförmige Sedimentation von Schotter und Sand unterhalb oder in Spalten von Gletschern

Where the eye mixes Obst and Os

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Obst
2 ch
Os

Why the eye confuses Obst with Os

A purely visual mix-up. Obst ([oːpst]) and Os ([oːs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Obst is recorded at frequency rank #4,545, classified as anoun, pronounced [oːpst]. Os is at rank #6,701, tagged as anoun, pronounced [oːs].

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 11246, this pair ranks #1,970,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Obst vs Os

Shared letters: os. Private to "Obst": bt. Private to "Os": -.

"Obst" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "Os" · 2 letters · shape VC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Obstbost · obbst · obsst · obstt · obts · osbt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Obst" and "Os" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([oːpst] versus [oːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Obst" or "Os"?
"Obst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,545 in our German list, against #6,701 for "Os". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Obst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Os" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,970,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Obst" and "Os" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "OGH vs Os". 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 #1,970,878 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