sagstvssaysWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,679
“sagst” frequency rank
#44,888
“says” frequency rank
47567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sagst says
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sagen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs say

Where the eye mixes sagst and says

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sagst runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against says's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
sagst
4 ch
says

Visual trap between sagst and says

A purely visual mix-up. sagst ([zaːkst]) and says ([sɛz]) 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 47567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sagst is recorded at frequency rank #2,679, classified as averb, pronounced [zaːkst]. says is at rank #44,888, tagged as averb, pronounced [sɛz].

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 47567, this pair ranks #1,279,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sagst vs says

Shared letters: as. Private to "sagst": gt. Private to "says": y.

"sagst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sagstasgst · saggst · sagsst · sagstt · sagts · sasgt · sgast · ssagst
  • saysasys · sasy · sayss · sayys · ssays · syas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sagst" for "says" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([zaːkst] versus [sɛz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sagst" or "says" show up more?
"sagst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,679 in our German list, against #44,888 for "says". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sagst" and "says" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sagst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "says" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,279,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sagst" and "says" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "says vs SUVs". 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 #1,279,791 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