Which to use
“sagen” and “saugen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #193
- “sagen” frequency rank
- #12,785
- “saugen” frequency rank
- 12978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sagen | saugen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bestimmte Worte sprechen (mit direkter oder indirekter Rede verwendet) | etwas heran oder in sich hinein befördern, indem Unterdruck geschaffen wird |
Where the eye mixes sagen and saugen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sagen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against saugen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: sagen vs saugen
A purely visual mix-up. sagen ([ˈzaːɡn̩]) and saugen ([ˈzaʊ̯ɡn̩]) 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 12978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sagen is recorded at frequency rank #193, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzaːɡn̩]. saugen is at rank #12,785, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯ɡn̩].
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 12978, this pair ranks #1,960,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sagen vs saugen
Shared letters: aegns. Private to "sagen": -. Private to "saugen": u.
"sagen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "saugen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sagen" and "saugen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "sagen" vs "saugen" - which ranks higher?
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 "sagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "saugen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sagen" and "saugen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saugen vs Stuten". 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 #1,960,866 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.