solevsSyltWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: sole is a noun, Sylt is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sole” is a noun and “Sylt” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,493
“sole” frequency rank
#17,145
“Sylt” frequency rank
44638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sole Sylt
Definition nächster Stern zur Erde und Zentrum unseres Sonnensystems; Sonne zu Deutschland gehörige nordfriesische Insel

Where the eye mixes sole and Sylt

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

4 ch
sole
4 ch
Sylt

Visual trap between sole and Sylt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sole is [ˈsole] while Sylt is [zʏlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sole is recorded at frequency rank #27,493, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsole]. Sylt is at rank #17,145, tagged as aname, pronounced [zʏlt].

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 44638, this pair ranks #1,379,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sole vs Sylt

Shared letters: ls. Private to "sole": eo. Private to "Sylt": ty.

"sole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Sylt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • soleosle · sloe · soel · ssole
  • Syltslyt · ssylt · syllt · syltt · sytl · syylt · yslt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sole" and "Sylt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sole" is a noun and "Sylt" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sole" or "Sylt" show up more?
"Sylt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,145 in our German list, against #27,493 for "sole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sylt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,379,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sole" and "Sylt" 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 #1,379,680 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