sagtvssankWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#237
“sagt” frequency rank
#8,128
“sank” frequency rank
8365
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sagt sank
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sagen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sinken

Where the eye mixes sagt and sank

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sagt and sank follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
sagt
4 ch
sank

Look-alike desk: sagt vs sank

A purely visual mix-up. sagt ([zaːkt]) and sank ([zaŋk]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sagt is recorded at frequency rank #237, classified as averb, pronounced [zaːkt]. sank is at rank #8,128, tagged as averb, pronounced [zaŋk].

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 8365, this pair ranks #1,984,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sagt vs sank

Shared letters: as. Private to "sagt": gt. Private to "sank": kn.

"sagt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "sank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sagtasgt · saggt · sagtt · satg · sgat · ssagt
  • sankasnk · sakn · sankk · sannk · snak · ssank

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sagt" and "sank" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zaːkt] versus [zaŋk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sagt" or "sank"?
"sagt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #237 in our German list, against #8,128 for "sank". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "sagt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,984,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sagt" and "sank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs sank". 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 #1,984,579 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