scansvsSohnsConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#37,182
“scans” frequency rank
#36,630
“Sohns” frequency rank
73812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scans Sohns
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scan Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Sohn

Letter map: scans vs Sohns

Shared letters muted; letters that set scans and Sohns apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. scans (CCVCC) and Sohns (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
scans
5 ch
Sohns

Part-of-speech tell for scans / Sohns

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scans is averb and Sohnsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scans is recorded at frequency rank #37,182, classified as averb, pronounced […]. Sohns is at rank #36,630, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zoːns].

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 73812, this pair ranks #350,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of scans vs Sohns

Shared letters: ns. Private to "scans": ac. Private to "Sohns": ho.

"scans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Sohns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scans ← csans · sacns · scanns · scanss · scasn · sccans · scnas · sscans
  • Sohns ← oshns · shons · sohhns · sohnns · sohnss · sohsn · sonhs · ssohns

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "scans" for "Sohns" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scans" is a verb and "Sohns" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "scans" vs "Sohns" - which ranks higher?
"Sohns" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,630 in our German list, against #37,182 for "scans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scans" and "Sohns".

  • Full dictionary entry for "scans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sohns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #350,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scans" and "Sohns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs scans". 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 #350,326 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