SuffvsSumpfTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,164
“Suff” frequency rank
#12,800
“Sumpf” frequency rank
54964
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Suff Sumpf
Definition Trunk- oder Alkoholsucht flache, stehende Wasserfläche mit Vegetation

Where the eye mixes Suff and Sumpf

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Suff
5 ch
Sumpf

Why the eye confuses Suff with Sumpf

A purely visual mix-up. Suff ([zʊf]) and Sumpf ([zʊmp͡f]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Suff is recorded at frequency rank #42,164, classified as anoun, pronounced [zʊf]. Sumpf is at rank #12,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zʊmp͡f].

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 54964, this pair ranks #998,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Suff vs Sumpf

Shared letters: fsu. Private to "Suff": -. Private to "Sumpf": mp.

"Suff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Sumpf" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Suffsfuf · ssuff · suf · usff
  • Sumpfsmupf · ssumpf · sumfp · summpf · sumpff · sumppf · supmf · usmpf

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Suff" for "Sumpf" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([zʊf] versus [zʊmp͡f]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Suff" or "Sumpf"?
"Sumpf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,800 in our German list, against #42,164 for "Suff". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Suff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sumpf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #998,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Suff" and "Sumpf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Suff vs surft". 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 #998,013 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