Which to use
“saufen” and “sauter” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,622
- “saufen” frequency rank
- #43,458
- “sauter” frequency rank
- 53080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | saufen | sauter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | trinken | springen |
Where the eye mixes saufen and sauter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. saufen and sauter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses saufen with sauter
A purely visual mix-up. saufen ([ˈzaʊ̯fn̩]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53080, 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]. 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 53080, this pair ranks #1,071,842 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of saufen vs sauter
Shared letters: aesu. Private to "saufen": fn. Private to "sauter": rt.
"saufen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "sauter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "saufen" and "sauter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "saufen" vs "sauter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "saufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sauter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,071,842 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "saufen" and "sauter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sauter vs Stuten". 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 #1,071,842 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.