säuftvsStiftWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: säuft is a verb, Stift is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“säuft” is a verb and “Stift” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,266
“säuft” frequency rank
#6,108
“Stift” frequency rank
50374
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature säuft Stift
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs saufen künstlich hergestellter länglicher, meist zylindrischer Körper aus Metall oder Holz, oft mit einer Spitze, der vielfachen Verwendungsmöglichkeiten dient

Where the eye mixes säuft and Stift

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
säuft
5 ch
Stift

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: säuft is [ˈzɔɪ̯ft] while Stift is [ʃtɪft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50374, 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]. Stift is at rank #6,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪft].

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 50374, this pair ranks #1,176,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of säuft vs Stift

Shared letters: fst. Private to "säuft": . Private to "Stift": i.

"säuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "Stift" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stiftsitft · sstift · stfit · stifft · stiftt · stitf · sttift · tsift

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "säuft" and "Stift" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "säuft" is a verb and "Stift" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "säuft" or "Stift"?
"Stift" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,108 in our German list, against #44,266 for "säuft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "säuft" and "Stift". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "säuft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stift" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,176,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "säuft" and "Stift" 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list