Which to use
“saugen” and “sausen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,785
- “saugen” frequency rank
- #36,608
- “sausen” frequency rank
- 49393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | saugen | sausen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas heran oder in sich hinein befördern, indem Unterdruck geschaffen wird | ein scharfes Geräusch verursachen, das gleichmäßig an- und abschwillt und an Reibung erinnert |
Where the eye mixes saugen and sausen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. saugen and sausen 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 saugen with sausen
A purely visual mix-up. saugen ([ˈzaʊ̯ɡn̩]) and sausen ([ˈzaʊ̯zn̩]) 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 a single letter - g in “saugen” becomes s in “sausen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
saugen is recorded at frequency rank #12,785, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯ɡn̩]. sausen is at rank #36,608, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯zn̩].
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 49393, this pair ranks #1,213,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of saugen vs sausen
Shared letters: aensu. Private to "saugen": g. Private to "sausen": -.
"saugen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "sausen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "saugen" for "sausen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "saugen" vs "sausen" - which ranks higher?
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 "saugen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sausen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,213,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "saugen" and "sausen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sausen 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 #1,213,220 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.