suchtenvssüchtigWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: suchten is a verb, süchtig is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“suchten” is a verb and “süchtig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,820
“suchten” frequency rank
#13,954
“süchtig” frequency rank
21774
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature suchten süchtig
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs suchen an einer Sucht leidend, von etwas abhängig sein

Where the eye mixes suchten and süchtig

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

7 ch
suchten
7 ch
süchtig

Visual trap between suchten and süchtig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: suchten is [ˈzuːxtn̩] while süchtig is [ˈzʏçtɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21774, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

suchten is recorded at frequency rank #7,820, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzuːxtn̩]. süchtig is at rank #13,954, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzʏçtɪç].

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 21774, this pair ranks #1,882,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of suchten vs süchtig

Shared letters: chst. Private to "suchten": enu. Private to "süchtig": giü.

"suchten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "süchtig" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suchtenscuhten · ssuchten · succhten · suchetn · suchhten · suchtenn · suchtne · suchtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "suchten" and "süchtig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "suchten" is a verb and "süchtig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "suchten" vs "süchtig" - which ranks higher?
"suchten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,820 in our German list, against #13,954 for "süchtig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "suchten" and "süchtig" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "suchten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "süchtig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,882,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "suchten" and "süchtig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sachte vs suchten". 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 #1,882,337 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