sacvsStauWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,101
“sac” frequency rank
#7,819
“Stau” frequency rank
49920
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sac Stau
Definition ein Transport- und Aufbewahrungsbehältnis aus grobem Stoff oder robustem Material durch eine Behinderung oder ein Hindernis verursachte Störung des Durchflusses oder Durchgangs; Nomen acti: Ergebnis des Stauens

Where the eye mixes sac and Stau

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sac runs 3 letters (CVC) against Stau's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
sac
4 ch
Stau

Look-alike desk: sac vs Stau

A purely visual mix-up. sac ([sak]) and Stau ([ʃtaʊ̯]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49920, 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]. Stau is at rank #7,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯].

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 49920, this pair ranks #1,193,374 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sac vs Stau

Shared letters: as. Private to "sac": c. Private to "Stau": tu.

"sac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Stau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stau ← satu · sstau · sttau · stua · tsau

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sac" and "Stau" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([sak] versus [ʃtaʊ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sac" vs "Stau" - which ranks higher?
"Stau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,819 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

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 "Stau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,193,374 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sac" and "Stau" 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 #1,193,374 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