onsvsOpiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ons is a pronoun, Opi is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ons” is a pronoun and “Opi” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,227
“ons” frequency rank
#44,834
“Opi” frequency rank
75061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ons Opi
Definition Erste Person plural : unser Kosewort für Opa

Letter map: ons vs Opi

Shared letters muted; letters that set ons and Opi apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. ons (VCC) and Opi (VCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
ons
3 ch
Opi

Grammar separator: ons vs Opi

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ons is apronoun and Opianoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ons is recorded at frequency rank #30,227, classified as apron. Opi is at rank #44,834, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈoːpi].

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 75061, this pair ranks #317,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ons vs Opi

Shared letters: o. Private to "ons": ns. Private to "Opi": ip.

"ons" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "Opi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ons" for "Opi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ons" is a pronoun and "Opi" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ons" or "Opi"?
"ons" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,227 in our German list, against #44,834 for "Opi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ons" and "Opi".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Opi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ons" and "Opi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "OGH vs Opi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #317,431 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