sensvsSohnsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,806
“sens” frequency rank
#36,630
“Sohns” frequency rank
79436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sens Sohns
Definition Bedeutung; Sinn Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Sohn

Where the eye mixes sens and Sohns

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sens runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Sohns's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
sens
5 ch
Sohns

Visual trap between sens and Sohns

A purely visual mix-up. sens ([sɑ̃s]) and Sohns ([zoːns]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sens is recorded at frequency rank #42,806, classified as anoun, pronounced [sɑ̃s]. 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 79436, this pair ranks #216,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sens vs Sohns

Shared letters: ns. Private to "sens": e. Private to "Sohns": ho.

"sens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Sohns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sens ← esns · senns · senss · sesn · snes · ssens
  • Sohns ← oshns · shons · sohhns · sohnns · sohnss · sohsn · sonhs · ssohns

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sens" for "Sohns" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([sɑ̃s] versus [zoːns]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sens" 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 #42,806 for "sens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "sens" and "Sohns" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sens" 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 #216,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sens" and "Sohns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs sens". 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 #216,535 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