Which to use
“säuft” and “shut” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,266
- “säuft” frequency rank
- #47,728
- “shut” frequency rank
- 91994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | säuft | shut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs saufen | schließen |
Where the eye mixes säuft and shut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. säuft runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against shut's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: säuft vs shut
A purely visual mix-up. säuft ([ˈzɔɪ̯ft]) and shut ([ʃʌt]) 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 91994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
säuft is recorded at frequency rank #44,266, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ft]. shut is at rank #47,728, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃʌt].
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 91994, this pair ranks #33,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of säuft vs shut
Shared letters: stu. Private to "säuft": fä. Private to "shut": h.
"säuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- shut ← shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "säuft" for "shut" ever safe?
Which is more common, "säuft" or "shut"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "säuft" and "shut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "säuft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "säuft" and "shut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt vs shut". 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 #33,319 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.