Which to use
“sacht” is an adjective and “säuft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,102
- “sacht” frequency rank
- #44,266
- “säuft” frequency rank
- 86368
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sacht | säuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sehr schwach ausgeprägt oder auch sehr langsam und deshalb kaum zu merken | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs saufen |
Where the eye mixes sacht and säuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sacht (CVCCC) and säuft (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between sacht and säuft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sacht is [zaxt] while säuft is [ˈzɔɪ̯ft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sacht is recorded at frequency rank #42,102, classified as anadj, pronounced [zaxt]. säuft is at rank #44,266, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ft].
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 86368, this pair ranks #94,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sacht vs säuft
Shared letters: st. Private to "sacht": ach. Private to "säuft": fuä.
"sacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "säuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sacht ← ascht · saccht · sachht · sachtt · sacth · sahct · scaht · ssacht
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sacht" for "säuft" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "sacht" or "säuft" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "säuft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sacht" and "säuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "säuft vs surft". 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 #94,716 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.