Which to use
“Sohn” and “sole” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #523
- “Sohn” frequency rank
- #27,493
- “sole” frequency rank
- 28016
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Sohn | sole |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | männlicher, direkter Nachkomme | nächster Stern zur Erde und Zentrum unseres Sonnensystems; Sonne |
Where the eye mixes Sohn and sole
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Sohn with sole
A purely visual mix-up. Sohn ([zoːn]) and sole ([ˈsole]) 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 28016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Sohn is recorded at frequency rank #523, classified as anoun, pronounced [zoːn]. sole is at rank #27,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsole].
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 28016, this pair ranks #1,792,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Sohn vs sole
Shared letters: os. Private to "Sohn": hn. Private to "sole": el.
"Sohn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Sohn" and "sole" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Sohn" or "sole" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Sohn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,792,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Sohn" and "sole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs sole". 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 #1,792,027 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.