StaubvsStausWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,766
“Staub” frequency rank
#23,322
“Staus” frequency rank
29088
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Staub Staus
Definition fein verteilte, kleine feste Partikel, die in der Luft schweben oder sich ablagern Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stau

Where the eye mixes Staub and Staus

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

5 ch
Staub
5 ch
Staus

Visual trap between Staub and Staus

A purely visual mix-up. Staub ([ʃtaʊ̯p]) and Staus ([ʃtaʊ̯s]) 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 a single letter - b in “Staub” becomes s in “Staus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Staub is recorded at frequency rank #5,766, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯p]. 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 29088, this pair ranks #1,773,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Staub vs Staus

Shared letters: astu. Private to "Staub": b. Private to "Staus": -.

"Staub" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "Staus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Staubsatub · sstaub · stabu · staubb · sttaub · stuab · tsaub
  • Staussatus · sstaus · stasu · stauss · stuas · tsaus

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Staub" and "Staus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtaʊ̯p] versus [ʃtaʊ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Staub" or "Staus" show up more?
"Staub" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,766 in our German list, against #23,322 for "Staus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Staub" 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 #1,773,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Staub" and "Staus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Staus vs steps". 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 #1,773,258 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