VasenvsVaterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,992
“Vasen” frequency rank
#536
“Vater” frequency rank
28528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vasen Vater
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vase männlicher Elternteil

Where the eye mixes Vasen and Vater

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Vasen and Vater follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Vasen
5 ch
Vater

Visual trap between Vasen and Vater

A purely visual mix-up. Vasen ([ˈvaːzn̩]) and Vater ([ˈfaːtɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vasen is recorded at frequency rank #27,992, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaːzn̩]. Vater is at rank #536, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːtɐ].

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 28528, this pair ranks #1,783,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vasen vs Vater

Shared letters: aev. Private to "Vasen": ns. Private to "Vater": rt.

"Vasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Vater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vasen ← avsen · vaesn · vasenn · vasne · vassen · vsaen · vvasen
  • Vater ← avter · vaetr · vaterr · vatre · vatter · vtaer · vvater

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Vasen" and "Vater" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaːzn̩] versus [ˈfaːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Vasen" or "Vater"?
"Vater" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #536 in our German list, against #27,992 for "Vasen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vasen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,783,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vasen" and "Vater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vas vs Vasen". 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 #1,783,154 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