sacvsspaceWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,101
“sac” frequency rank
#7,530
“space” frequency rank
49631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sac space
Definition ein Transport- und Aufbewahrungsbehältnis aus grobem Stoff oder robustem Material kurz für urban open space – Freiraum

Where the eye mixes sac and space

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
sac
5 ch
space

Why the eye confuses sac with space

A purely visual mix-up. sac ([sak]) and space ([speɪs]) 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 49631, 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]. space is at rank #7,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced [speɪs].

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 49631, this pair ranks #1,204,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sac vs space

Shared letters: acs. Private to "sac": -. Private to "space": ep.

"sac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "space" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spacepsace · sapce · spacce · spaec · spcae · sppace · sspace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sac" and "space" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([sak] versus [speɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sac" or "space" show up more?
"space" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,530 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 "space" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,204,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sac" and "space" 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 #1,204,177 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