SäuglingvsSäuglingeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Säugling” and “Säuglinge” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,947
“Säugling” frequency rank
#32,798
“Säuglinge” frequency rank
57745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Säugling Säuglinge
Definition neugeborenes Kind Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Säugling

Where the eye mixes Säugling and Säuglinge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Säugling runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against Säuglinge's 9 (CVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Säugling
9 ch
Säuglinge

Why the eye confuses Säugling with Säuglinge

A purely visual mix-up. Säugling ([ˈzɔɪ̯klɪŋ]) and Säuglinge ([ˈzɔɪ̯klɪŋə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Säugling” sits inside “Säuglinge”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Säugling is recorded at frequency rank #24,947, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯klɪŋ]. Säuglinge is at rank #32,798, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯klɪŋə].

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 57745, this pair ranks #889,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Säugling vs Säuglinge

Shared letters: gilnsuä. Private to "Säugling": -. Private to "Säuglinge": e.

"Säugling" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC  ·  "Säuglinge" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Säugling" and "Säuglinge" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔɪ̯klɪŋ] versus [ˈzɔɪ̯klɪŋə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Säugling" vs "Säuglinge" - which ranks higher?
"Säugling" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,947 in our German list, against #32,798 for "Säuglinge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Säugling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Säuglinge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #889,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Säugling" and "Säuglinge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Säuglinge vs Säuglingen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #889,389 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list