sacvsSäckeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“sac” and “Säcke” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,101
“sac” frequency rank
#13,953
“Säcke” frequency rank
56054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sac Säcke
Definition ein Transport- und Aufbewahrungsbehältnis aus grobem Stoff oder robustem Material Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sack

Where the eye mixes sac and Säcke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sac runs 3 letters (CVC) against Säcke's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
sac
5 ch
Säcke

Visual trap between sac and Säcke

A purely visual mix-up. sac ([sak]) and Säcke ([ˈzɛkə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sac is recorded at frequency rank #42,101, classified as anoun, pronounced [sak]. Säcke is at rank #13,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛkə].

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 56054, this pair ranks #955,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sac vs Säcke

Shared letters: cs. Private to "sac": a. Private to "Säcke": ekä.

"sac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Säcke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sac" for "Säcke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([sak] versus [ˈzɛkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sac" or "Säcke" show up more?
"Säcke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,953 in our German list, against #42,101 for "sac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "sac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Säcke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #955,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sac" and "Säcke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sac vs seg". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #955,414 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