ÖsterreichvsÖsterreichsConfusable pair

Quick tell: Österreich is a name, Österreichs is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Österreich” is a name and “Österreichs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#551
“Österreich” frequency rank
#4,580
“Österreichs” frequency rank
5131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Österreich Österreichs
Definition Staat in Mitteleuropa Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Österreich

Where the eye mixes Österreich and Österreichs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
Österreich
11 ch
Österreichs

Visual trap between Österreich and Österreichs

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Österreich is [ˈøːstəʁaɪ̯ç] while Österreichs is [ˈøːstəʁaɪ̯çs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Österreich” sits inside “Österreichs”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Österreich is recorded at frequency rank #551, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈøːstəʁaɪ̯ç]. Österreichs is at rank #4,580, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈøːstəʁaɪ̯çs].

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 5131, this pair ranks #1,995,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Österreich vs Österreichs

Shared letters: cehirstö. Private to "Österreich": -. Private to "Österreichs": -.

"Österreich" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC  ·  "Österreichs" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Österreich" for "Österreichs" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Österreich" is a name and "Österreichs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Österreich" or "Österreichs"?
"Österreich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #551 in our German list, against #4,580 for "Österreichs". 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 "Österreich" and "Österreichs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Österreich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Österreichs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,995,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Österreich" and "Österreichs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Österreicher vs Österreichs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,995,698 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