Which to use
“ou” is a conjunction and “Outs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,509
- “ou” frequency rank
- #45,496
- “Outs” frequency rank
- 62005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ou | Outs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | oder | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Out |
Where the eye mixes ou and Outs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ou and Outs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ou is [u] while Outs is [aʊ̯t͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ou” sits inside “Outs”, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ou is recorded at frequency rank #16,509, classified as aconj, pronounced [u]. Outs is at rank #45,496, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aʊ̯t͡s].
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 62005, this pair ranks #728,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ou vs Outs
Shared letters: ou. Private to "ou": -. Private to "Outs": st.
"ou" · 2 letters · shape VV · "Outs" · 4 letters · shape VVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Outs ← otus · oust · outss · outts · uots
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ou" for "Outs" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ou" or "Outs" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ou" and "Outs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Outs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #728,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ou" and "Outs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ones vs Outs". 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 #728,755 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.