Which to use
“Sau” is a noun and “säuft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,422
- “Sau” frequency rank
- #44,266
- “säuft” frequency rank
- 49688
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Sau | säuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | weibliches Schwein ab dem ersten Ferkeln | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs saufen |
Where the eye mixes Sau and säuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Sau vs säuft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sau is [zaʊ̯] while säuft is [ˈzɔɪ̯ft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Sau is recorded at frequency rank #5,422, classified as anoun, pronounced [zaʊ̯]. 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 49688, this pair ranks #1,202,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Sau vs säuft
Shared letters: su. Private to "Sau": a. Private to "säuft": ftä.
"Sau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "säuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Sau" and "säuft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Sau" or "säuft" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Sau" 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 #1,202,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Sau" and "säuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "säuft vs surft". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,202,026 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.