Which to use
“offen” is an adjective and “Öffis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #888
- “offen” frequency rank
- #41,609
- “Öffis” frequency rank
- 42497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | offen | Öffis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht geschlossen, zum Beispiel als Zustandsbeschreibung einer Eingangsmöglichkeit | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Öffi |
Where the eye mixes offen and Öffis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between offen and Öffis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: offen is [ˈɔfn̩] while Öffis is [ˈœfis]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
offen is recorded at frequency rank #888, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔfn̩]. Öffis is at rank #41,609, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈœfis].
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 42497, this pair ranks #1,447,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of offen vs Öffis
Shared letters: f. Private to "offen": eno. Private to "Öffis": isö.
"offen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "Öffis" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- offen ← fofen · ofefn · offenn · offne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "offen" for "Öffis" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "offen" or "Öffis" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "offen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Öffis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,447,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "offen" and "Öffis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Öffis vs Ossis". 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 #1,447,485 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.