SaucevsStückeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,960
“Sauce” frequency rank
#3,079
“Stücke” frequency rank
15039
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sauce Stücke
Definition fachsprachlich: alternative Schreibweise von Soße^([1]) beziehungsweise Soß; in Österreich nicht fachsprachliche Hauptschreibweise Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stück

Where the eye mixes Sauce and Stücke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Sauce runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Stücke's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Sauce
6 ch
Stücke

Visual trap between Sauce and Stücke

A purely visual mix-up. Sauce ([ˈzoːsə]) and Stücke ([ˈʃtʏkə]) 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 15039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sauce is recorded at frequency rank #11,960, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzoːsə]. Stücke is at rank #3,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʏkə].

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 15039, this pair ranks #1,946,864 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sauce vs Stücke

Shared letters: ces. Private to "Sauce": au. Private to "Stücke": ktü.

"Sauce" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Stücke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sauce ← asuce · sacue · saucce · sauec · ssauce · suace

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sauce" for "Stücke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzoːsə] versus [ˈʃtʏkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Sauce" or "Stücke"?
"Stücke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,079 in our German list, against #11,960 for "Sauce". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Sauce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stücke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,946,864 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sauce" and "Stücke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs Sauce". 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 #1,946,864 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