sähevsSalveTell them apart

Quick tell: sähe is a verb, Salve is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sähe” is a verb and “Salve” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,704
“sähe” frequency rank
#43,456
“Salve” frequency rank
57160
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sähe Salve
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sehen das gleichzeitige Abfeuern mehrerer Schusswaffen

Where the eye mixes sähe and Salve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sähe
5 ch
Salve

Visual trap between sähe and Salve

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sähe is [ˈzɛːə] while Salve is [ˈzalvə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sähe is recorded at frequency rank #13,704, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛːə]. Salve is at rank #43,456, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzalvə].

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 57160, this pair ranks #912,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sähe vs Salve

Shared letters: es. Private to "sähe": . Private to "Salve": alv.

"sähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Salve" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Salveaslve · salev · sallve · salvve · savle · ssalve

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sähe" and "Salve" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sähe" is a verb and "Salve" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sähe" or "Salve" show up more?
"sähe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,704 in our German list, against #43,456 for "Salve". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sähe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Salve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #912,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sähe" and "Salve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs Salve". 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 #912,155 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