säenvssaysTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,300
“säen” frequency rank
#44,888
“says” frequency rank
77188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature säen says
Definition ausstreuend oder setzend Saatgut in den dafür vorbereiteten Boden bringen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs say

Where the eye mixes säen and says

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. säen and says follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
säen
4 ch
says

Look-alike desk: säen vs says

A purely visual mix-up. säen ([ˈzɛːən]) and says ([sɛz]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

säen is recorded at frequency rank #32,300, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛːən]. says is at rank #44,888, tagged as averb, pronounced [sɛz].

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 77188, this pair ranks #266,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of säen vs says

Shared letters: s. Private to "säen": enä. Private to "says": ay.

"säen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • says ← asys · sasy · sayss · sayys · ssays · syas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "säen" for "says" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛːən] versus [sɛz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "säen" vs "says" - which ranks higher?
"säen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,300 in our German list, against #44,888 for "says". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "säen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "says" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #266,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "säen" and "says" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "says vs SUVs". 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 #266,482 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