sacvssankConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#42,101
“sac” frequency rank
#8,128
“sank” frequency rank
50229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sac sank
Definition ein Transport- und Aufbewahrungsbehältnis aus grobem Stoff oder robustem Material 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sinken

Where the eye mixes sac and sank

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
sac
4 ch
sank

Why the eye confuses sac with sank

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sac is [sak] while sank is [zaŋk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50229, 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]. sank is at rank #8,128, tagged as averb, pronounced [zaŋk].

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 50229, this pair ranks #1,181,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sac vs sank

Shared letters: as. Private to "sac": c. Private to "sank": kn.

"sac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "sank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sankasnk · sakn · sankk · sannk · snak · ssank

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sac" for "sank" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sac" is a noun and "sank" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sac" or "sank" show up more?
"sank" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,128 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,181,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sac" and "sank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sac vs seg". 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 #1,181,645 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