Which to use
“sowie” is a conjunction and “sowieso” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #188
- “sowie” frequency rank
- #1,823
- “sowieso” frequency rank
- 2011
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sowie | sowieso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wie auch, und außerdem, wobei der Fokus auf den folgenden Ausdruck gelegt wird | auf alle Fälle; auch ohne eine weitere Voraussetzung (stellt einen Sachverhalt als zweifelsfrei gültig dar und dient meist dem Zweck, entweder das Gesagte zu erklären bzw. zu rechtfertigen, Hintergrundinformationen zum Gesagten einzuführen oder die Wichtigkeit des Gesagten herauszuhebenWörterbuch deutscher Partikeln,Seite 834 ff.) |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sowie and sowieso apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
sowie and sowieso form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sowie” sits inside “sowieso” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sowie is recorded at frequency rank #188, classified as aconj, pronounced [zoˈviː]. sowieso is at rank #1,823, tagged as anadv, pronounced [zoviˈzoː].
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 2011, this pair ranks #2,003,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sowie" and "sowieso" be used interchangeably?
Remembering sowie vs sowieso
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “sowie”; for an adverb, it's “sowieso”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sowie” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable