OchsevsOchsenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,320
“Ochse” frequency rank
#26,560
“Ochsen” frequency rank
64880
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ochse Ochsen
Definition kastriertes männliches Hausrind Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ochse

Where the eye mixes Ochse and Ochsen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ochse runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against Ochsen's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Ochse
6 ch
Ochsen

Visual trap between Ochse and Ochsen

A purely visual mix-up. Ochse ([ˈɔksə]) and Ochsen ([ˈɔksn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Ochse” sits inside “Ochsen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ochse is recorded at frequency rank #38,320, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔksə]. Ochsen is at rank #26,560, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔksn̩].

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 64880, this pair ranks #626,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ochse vs Ochsen

Shared letters: cehos. Private to "Ochse": -. Private to "Ochsen": n.

"Ochse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Ochsen" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ochse ← cohse · occhse · oches · ochhse · ochsse · ocshe · ohcse
  • Ochsen ← cohsen · occhsen · ochesn · ochhsen · ochsenn · ochsne · ochssen · ocshen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ochse" and "Ochsen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɔksə] versus [ˈɔksn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ochse" vs "Ochsen" - which ranks higher?
"Ochsen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,560 in our German list, against #38,320 for "Ochse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Ochse" and "Ochsen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ochse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ochsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #626,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ochse" and "Ochsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Oasen vs Ochsen". 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 #626,061 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