Which to use
“van” and “vans” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,615
- “van” frequency rank
- #39,095
- “vans” frequency rank
- 40710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | van | vans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | geschlossener Kraftwagen mittlerer Größe mit Fenstern rundum oder nur vorn | Plural des Substantivs van |
Where the eye mixes van and vans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses van with vans
A purely visual mix-up. van ([væn]) and vans ([væns]) 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) - “van” sits inside “vans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
van is recorded at frequency rank #1,615, classified as anoun, pronounced [væn]. vans is at rank #39,095, tagged as anoun, pronounced [væns].
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 40710, this pair ranks #1,500,667 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of van vs vans
Shared letters: anv. Private to "van": -. Private to "vans": s.
"van" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vans ← avns · vanns · vanss · vasn · vnas · vvans
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "van" for "vans" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "van" or "vans" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "van" and "vans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "van" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,500,667 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "van" and "vans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vans vs vas". 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 #1,500,667 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.