suchvssuchenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,391
“such” frequency rank
#574
“suchen” frequency rank
4965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature such suchen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs suchen sich bemühen, etwas oder jemanden zu finden, das oder der verloren oder versteckt ist

Where the eye mixes such and suchen

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

4 ch
such
6 ch
suchen

Why the eye confuses such with suchen

A purely visual mix-up. such ([zuːx]) and suchen ([ˈzuːxn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “such” sits inside “suchen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

such is recorded at frequency rank #4,391, classified as averb, pronounced [zuːx]. suchen is at rank #574, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzuːxn̩].

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 4965, this pair ranks #1,996,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of such vs suchen

Shared letters: chsu. Private to "such": -. Private to "suchen": en.

"such" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "suchen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suchscuh · ssuch · succh · suchh · suhc · usch
  • suchenscuhen · ssuchen · succhen · sucehn · suchenn · suchhen · suchne · suhcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "such" for "suchen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([zuːx] versus [ˈzuːxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "such" vs "suchen" - which ranks higher?
"suchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #574 in our German list, against #4,391 for "such". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "such" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "suchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,996,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "such" and "suchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "such 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 #1,996,172 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