SätzenvssaugenTell them apart

Quick tell: Sätzen is a noun, saugen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Sätzen” is a noun and “saugen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,859
“Sätzen” frequency rank
#12,785
“saugen” frequency rank
19644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sätzen saugen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Satz etwas heran oder in sich hinein befördern, indem Unterdruck geschaffen wird

Where the eye mixes Sätzen and saugen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Sätzen (CVCCVC) and saugen (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Sätzen
6 ch
saugen

Look-alike desk: Sätzen vs saugen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sätzen is [ˈzɛt͡sn̩] while saugen is [ˈzaʊ̯ɡn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sätzen is recorded at frequency rank #6,859, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛt͡sn̩]. 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 19644, this pair ranks #1,906,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sätzen vs saugen

Shared letters: ens. Private to "Sätzen": tzä. Private to "saugen": agu.

"Sätzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "saugen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • saugen ← asugen · saguen · sauegn · saugenn · sauggen · saugne · ssaugen · suagen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sätzen" for "saugen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sätzen" is a noun and "saugen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Sätzen" or "saugen" show up more?
"Sätzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,859 in our German list, against #12,785 for "saugen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sätzen" 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 #1,906,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sätzen" 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 #1,906,151 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