suchenvsSuppenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: suchen is a verb, Suppen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“suchen” is a verb and “Suppen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#574
“suchen” frequency rank
#33,325
“Suppen” frequency rank
33899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature suchen Suppen
Definition sich bemühen, etwas oder jemanden zu finden, das oder der verloren oder versteckt ist Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Suppe

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set suchen and Suppen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
suchen
6 ch
Suppen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: suchen is [ˈzuːxn̩] while Suppen is [ˈzʊpn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

suchen is recorded at frequency rank #574, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzuːxn̩]. Suppen is at rank #33,325, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzʊpn̩].

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 33899, this pair ranks #1,675,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of suchen vs Suppen

Shared letters: ensu. Private to "suchen": ch. Private to "Suppen": p.

"suchen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Suppen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suchenscuhen · ssuchen · succhen · sucehn · suchenn · suchhen · suchne · suhcen
  • Suppenspupen · ssuppen · supen · supepn · suppenn · suppne · usppen

Frequency comparison

suchen#574
Suppen#33,325

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "suchen" and "Suppen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "suchen" is a verb and "Suppen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "suchen" or "Suppen"?
"suchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #574 in our German list, against #33,325 for "Suppen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering suchen vs Suppen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “suchen”; for a noun, it's “Suppen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “suchen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list