sonst
[zɔnst]
The verdict
“sonst” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #334 in German word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #334
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - für gewöhnlich, im allgemeinen, bei anderen Gelegenheiten, zu anderer Zeit als gerade jetzt
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 | sonst |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [zɔnst] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #334 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sonst” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for sonst is 5 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [zɔnst]. Corpus data places it at rank #334 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sonst, with forms such as "osnst", "snost", and "sonnst". 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, "sous", "sort", "sorgt", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is sonst, spelled S-O-N-S-T.
Definition
- 1für gewöhnlich, im allgemeinen, bei anderen Gelegenheiten, zu anderer Zeit als gerade jetzt
- 2darüber hinaus, extra
- 3im anderen Fall
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: osnst,snost,sonnst,sonsst,sonstt,sonts,sosnt,ssonst
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sonst - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
How do you spell "sonst"?
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Using “sonst”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-O-N-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [zɔnst] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sous” - see the side-by-side comparison. sonst vs sous
- 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.