SinnevsSündeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,122
“Sinne” frequency rank
#7,996
“Sünde” frequency rank
9118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sinne Sünde
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Sinn Übertretung eines religiösen Gebotes oder Verbotes

Where the eye mixes Sinne and Sünde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sinne
5 ch
Sünde

Why the eye confuses Sinne with Sünde

A purely visual mix-up. Sinne ([ˈzɪnə]) and Sünde ([ˈzʏndə]) 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 9118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sinne is recorded at frequency rank #1,122, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɪnə]. Sünde is at rank #7,996, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzʏndə].

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 9118, this pair ranks #1,981,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sinne vs Sünde

Shared letters: ens. Private to "Sinne": i. Private to "Sünde": .

"Sinne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Sünde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sinneisnne · sine · sinen · snine · ssinne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sinne" for "Sünde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪnə] versus [ˈzʏndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Sinne" or "Sünde" show up more?
"Sinne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,122 in our German list, against #7,996 for "Sünde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sinne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sünde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sinne" and "Sünde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sönke vs Sünde". 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 #1,981,396 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