Sachsen vs sausen, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Sachsen” is a name and “sausen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,268
“Sachsen” frequency rank: #36,608
“sausen” frequency rank: 37876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Sachsen	sausen
Definition	Bundesland in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Freistaat	ein scharfes Geräusch verursachen, das gleichmäßig an- und abschwillt und an Reibung erinnert

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Sachsen and sausen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

Sachsen

6 ch

sausen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sachsen is [ˈzaksn̩] while sausen is [ˈzaʊ̯zn̩]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sachsen is recorded at frequency rank #1,268, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈzaksn̩]. sausen is at rank #36,608, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯zn̩].

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 37876, this pair ranks #1,578,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sachsen vs sausen

Shared letters: aens. Private to "Sachsen": ch. Private to "sausen": u.

"Sachsen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "sausen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

Sachsen ← aschsen · sacchsen · sachesn · sachhsen · sachsenn · sachsne · sachssen · sacshen
sausen ← asusen · sasuen · sauesn · sausenn · sausne · saussen · ssausen · suasen

Frequency comparison

Sachsen#1,268

sausen#36,608

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sachsen" and "sausen" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sachsen" is a name and "sausen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Sachsen" or "sausen"?

"Sachsen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,268 in our German list, against #36,608 for "sausen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Sachsen vs sausen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Sachsen”; for a verb, it's “sausen”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Sachsen” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable