SuppevsSureWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,237
“Suppe” frequency rank
#18,715
“Sure” frequency rank
25952
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Suppe Sure
Definition Gericht, das auf der Basis von (gebundener) Brühe oder Bouillon mit verschiedenen zerkleinerten Einlagen in einem Topf zubereitet wird; (klare) flüssige Speise, die aus Gemüse, Fleisch oder Fisch gekocht und dann meist mit Einlage serviert wird Kapitel (Buchabschnitt) im Koran

Where the eye mixes Suppe and Sure

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

5 ch
Suppe
4 ch
Sure

Why the eye confuses Suppe with Sure

A purely visual mix-up. Suppe ([ˈzʊpə]) and Sure ([ˈzuːʁə]) 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 25952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Suppe is recorded at frequency rank #7,237, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzʊpə]. Sure is at rank #18,715, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzuːʁə].

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 25952, this pair ranks #1,825,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Suppe vs Sure

Shared letters: esu. Private to "Suppe": p. Private to "Sure": r.

"Suppe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Sure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Suppespupe · ssuppe · supe · supep · usppe
  • Suresrue · ssure · surre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Suppe" and "Sure" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzʊpə] versus [ˈzuːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Suppe" or "Sure" show up more?
"Suppe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,237 in our German list, against #18,715 for "Sure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Suppe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,825,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Suppe" and "Sure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sure 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 #1,825,509 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