Which to use
“sous” is a preposition and “Staus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,337
- “sous” frequency rank
- #23,322
- “Staus” frequency rank
- 52659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sous | Staus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unter (unterhalb von) | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stau |
Where the eye mixes sous and Staus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sous with Staus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sous is [su] while Staus is [ʃtaʊ̯s]. 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 (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sous is recorded at frequency rank #29,337, classified as aprep, pronounced [su]. Staus is at rank #23,322, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯s].
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 52659, this pair ranks #1,088,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sous vs Staus
Shared letters: su. Private to "sous": o. Private to "Staus": at.
"sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Staus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sous" and "Staus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sous" vs "Staus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sous" and "Staus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Staus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,088,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sous" and "Staus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs SUVs". 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 #1,088,260 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.