SohnsvssousWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,630
“Sohns” frequency rank
#29,337
“sous” frequency rank
65967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sohns sous
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Sohn unter (unterhalb von)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Sohns and sous apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Sohns
4 ch
sous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sohns is [zoːns] while sous is [su]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sohns is recorded at frequency rank #36,630, classified as anoun, pronounced [zoːns]. sous is at rank #29,337, tagged as aprep, pronounced [su].

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 65967, this pair ranks #588,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sohns vs sous

Shared letters: os. Private to "Sohns": hn. Private to "sous": u.

"Sohns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sohnsoshns · shons · sohhns · sohnns · sohnss · sohsn · sonhs · ssohns
  • sousosus · sosu · souss · ssous · suos

Frequency comparison

Sohns#36,630
sous#29,337

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sohns" and "sous" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sohns" is a noun and "sous" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Sohns" or "sous"?
"sous" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,337 in our German list, against #36,630 for "Sohns". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Sohns vs sous

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Sohns”; for a preposition, it's “sous”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Sohns” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list