PausenvspushenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Pausen is a noun, pushen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Pausen” is a noun and “pushen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,337
“Pausen” frequency rank
#27,011
“pushen” frequency rank
37348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pausen pushen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pause jemanden oder etwas in eine (unverdient) hohe Position bringen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pausen and pushen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Pausen
6 ch
pushen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pausen is [ˈpaʊ̯zn̩] while pushen is [ˈpʊʃn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pausen is recorded at frequency rank #10,337, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaʊ̯zn̩]. pushen is at rank #27,011, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpʊʃn̩].

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 37348, this pair ranks #1,592,585 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pausen vs pushen

Shared letters: enpsu. Private to "Pausen": a. Private to "pushen": h.

"Pausen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "pushen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pausenapusen · pasuen · pauesn · pausenn · pausne · paussen · ppausen · puasen
  • pushenppushen · psuhen · puhsen · pusehn · pushenn · pushhen · pushne · pusshen

Frequency comparison

Pausen#10,337
pushen#27,011

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pausen" and "pushen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pausen" is a noun and "pushen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Pausen" or "pushen"?
"Pausen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,337 in our German list, against #27,011 for "pushen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Pausen vs pushen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Pausen”; for a verb, it's “pushen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Pausen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list