SondevsStundeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,175
“Sonde” frequency rank
#724
“Stunde” frequency rank
14899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sonde Stunde
Definition ein stab-, röhren- oder schlauchförmiges Instrument zum Einführen in Körperhöhlen, um sie zu untersuchen und zu behandeln Zeiteinheit, entspricht dem 24. Teil eines Tages

Where the eye mixes Sonde and Stunde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sonde
6 ch
Stunde

Why the eye confuses Sonde with Stunde

A purely visual mix-up. Sonde ([ˈzɔndə]) and Stunde ([ˈʃtʊndə]) 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 14899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sonde is recorded at frequency rank #14,175, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔndə]. Stunde is at rank #724, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʊndə].

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 14899, this pair ranks #1,947,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sonde vs Stunde

Shared letters: dens. Private to "Sonde": o. Private to "Stunde": tu.

"Sonde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Stunde" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sondeosnde · snode · sodne · sondde · soned · sonnde · ssonde
  • Stundesstunde · stnude · sttunde · studne · stundde · stuned · stunnde · sutnde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sonde" for "Stunde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔndə] versus [ˈʃtʊndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Sonde" vs "Stunde" - which ranks higher?
"Stunde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #724 in our German list, against #14,175 for "Sonde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sonde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stunde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,947,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sonde" and "Stunde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sonar vs Sonde". 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 #1,947,920 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