SachevsSäureWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#495
“Sache” frequency rank
#11,980
“Säure” frequency rank
12475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sache Säure
Definition einzelner Gegenstand oder eine Gruppe von Dingen, die einer Person oder Angelegenheit zugehörig sind chemische Verbindung, die im Zuge einer Säure-Base-Reaktion Protonen abgeben kann

Where the eye mixes Sache and Säure

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Sache (CVCCV) and Säure (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Sache
5 ch
Säure

Visual trap between Sache and Säure

A purely visual mix-up. Sache ([ˈzaxə]) and Säure ([ˈzɔɪ̯ʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sache is recorded at frequency rank #495, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaxə]. Säure is at rank #11,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ʁə].

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 12475, this pair ranks #1,963,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sache vs Säure

Shared letters: es. Private to "Sache": ach. Private to "Säure": ruä.

"Sache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Säure" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sache ← sacche · saceh · sachhe · sahce · scahe · ssache

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sache" for "Säure" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaxə] versus [ˈzɔɪ̯ʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Sache" or "Säure"?
"Sache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #495 in our German list, against #11,980 for "Säure". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Sache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Säure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,963,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sache" and "Säure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Säure vs Sire". 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 #1,963,969 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