selfvsSulzTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,966
“self” frequency rank
#37,234
“Sulz” frequency rank
49200
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature self Sulz
Definition das Selbst; das Ich Stücke von Fleisch, Fisch oder Gemüse in eingedickter Brühe (Aspik/Gallert/Gelee), welche auch als Sulz bezeichnet wird

Where the eye mixes self and Sulz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
self
4 ch
Sulz

Look-alike desk: self vs Sulz

A purely visual mix-up. self ([self]) and Sulz ([zʊlt͡s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

self is recorded at frequency rank #11,966, classified as anoun, pronounced [self]. Sulz is at rank #37,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zʊlt͡s].

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 49200, this pair ranks #1,220,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of self vs Sulz

Shared letters: ls. Private to "self": ef. Private to "Sulz": uz.

"self" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Sulz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • selfeslf · sefl · selff · sellf · slef · sself
  • Sulzsluz · ssulz · sullz · sulzz · suzl · uslz

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "self" and "Sulz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([self] versus [zʊlt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "self" vs "Sulz" - which ranks higher?
"self" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,966 in our German list, against #37,234 for "Sulz". 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 "self" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sulz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,220,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "self" and "Sulz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sulz vs SUVs". 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 #1,220,360 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