säubernvssauterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,528
“säubern” frequency rank
#43,458
“sauter” frequency rank
65986
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature säubern sauter
Definition Dreck und Verunreinigungen entfernen; sauber machen springen

Where the eye mixes säubern and sauter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
säubern
6 ch
sauter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. säubern ([ˈzɔɪ̯bɐn]) and sauter ([sote]) 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 65986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

säubern is recorded at frequency rank #22,528, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯bɐn]. sauter is at rank #43,458, tagged as averb, pronounced [sote].

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 65986, this pair ranks #588,374 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of säubern vs sauter

Shared letters: ersu. Private to "säubern": bnä. Private to "sauter": at.

"säubern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "sauter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sauterasuter · satuer · sauetr · sauterr · sautre · sautter · ssauter · suater

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "säubern" and "sauter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔɪ̯bɐn] versus [sote]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "säubern" or "sauter"?
"säubern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,528 in our German list, against #43,458 for "sauter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list