sollen
[ˈzɔlən]
The verdict
“sollen” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #291 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #291
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - um das Erteilen eines Befehls oder Auftrags auszudrücken
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sollen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈzɔlən] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #291 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sollen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for sollen is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈzɔlən]. Corpus data places it at rank #291 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sollen, with forms such as "osllen", "slolen", and "soleln". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sollt", "Solls", "sollte", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is sollen, spelled S-O-L-L-E-N.
Definition
- 1um das Erteilen eines Befehls oder Auftrags auszudrücken
- 2um eine Empfehlung eines Dritten auszudrücken
- 3in der indirekten Rede: um eine nicht selbst aufgestellte Behauptung oder das Hörensagen auszudrücken
- 4im Präteritum: um eine spätere Zeitebene in der Vergangenheit auszudrücken
- 5im Konjunktiv II: um eine Vermutung, Annahme auszudrücken
- 6im Konjunktiv II Präteritum: um eine persönliche Empfehlung auszudrücken
- 7im Konjunktiv II Präteritum: um ein unwahrscheinliches Eintreffen einer Bedingung zu verstärken
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: osllen,slolen,soleln,solen,sollenn,sollne,ssollen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sollen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “sollen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-O-L-L-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈzɔlən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sollt” - see the side-by-side comparison. sollen vs sollt
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.