saubervssauberesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,854
“sauber” frequency rank
#21,411
“sauberes” frequency rank
24265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sauber sauberes
Definition nicht verschmutzt, frei von Unrat Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sauber

Where the eye mixes sauber and sauberes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sauber runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against sauberes's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
sauber
8 ch
sauberes

Why the eye confuses sauber with sauberes

A purely visual mix-up. sauber ([ˈzaʊ̯bɐ]) and sauberes ([ˈzaʊ̯bəʁəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “sauber” sits inside “sauberes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sauber is recorded at frequency rank #2,854, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯bɐ]. sauberes is at rank #21,411, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯bəʁəs].

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 24265, this pair ranks #1,850,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sauber vs sauberes

Shared letters: abersu. Private to "sauber": -. Private to "sauberes": -.

"sauber" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "sauberes" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sauber ← asuber · sabuer · saubber · sauberr · saubre · sauebr · ssauber · suaber
  • sauberes ← asuberes · sabueres · saubberes · saubeers · sauberess · sauberres · sauberse · saubrees

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sauber" for "sauberes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaʊ̯bɐ] versus [ˈzaʊ̯bəʁəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sauber" or "sauberes" show up more?
"sauber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,854 in our German list, against #21,411 for "sauberes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sauber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sauberes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,850,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sauber" and "sauberes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sauberes vs saures". 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 #1,850,089 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