SündevsSündenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,996
“Sünde” frequency rank
#9,815
“Sünden” frequency rank
17811
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sünde Sünden
Definition Übertretung eines religiösen Gebotes oder Verbotes Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sünde

Where the eye mixes Sünde and Sünden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sünde
6 ch
Sünden

Why the eye confuses Sünde with Sünden

A purely visual mix-up. Sünde ([ˈzʏndə]) and Sünden ([ˈzʏndn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Sünde” sits inside “Sünden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sünde is recorded at frequency rank #7,996, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzʏndə]. Sünden is at rank #9,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzʏndn̩].

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 17811, this pair ranks #1,924,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sünde vs Sünden

Shared letters: densü. Private to "Sünde": -. Private to "Sünden": -.

"Sünde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Sünden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sünde" and "Sünden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzʏndə] versus [ˈzʏndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Sünde" vs "Sünden" - which ranks higher?
"Sünde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,996 in our German list, against #9,815 for "Sünden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sünde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sünden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sünde" and "Sünden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sönke vs Sünde". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,924,042 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