Which to use
“saufen” and “säuft” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,622
- “saufen” frequency rank
- #44,266
- “säuft” frequency rank
- 53888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | saufen | säuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | trinken | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs saufen |
Where the eye mixes saufen and säuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. saufen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against säuft's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: saufen vs säuft
A purely visual mix-up. saufen ([ˈzaʊ̯fn̩]) and säuft ([ˈzɔɪ̯ft]) 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 53888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
saufen is recorded at frequency rank #9,622, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯fn̩]. 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 53888, this pair ranks #1,040,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of saufen vs säuft
Shared letters: fsu. Private to "saufen": aen. Private to "säuft": tä.
"saufen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "säuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- saufen ← asufen · safuen · sauefn · saufenn · sauffen · saufne · ssaufen · suafen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "saufen" for "säuft" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "saufen" or "säuft" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "saufen" 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 #1,040,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "saufen" and "säuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "säuft vs surft". 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 #1,040,422 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.