sähevssayWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,704
“sähe” frequency rank
#12,786
“say” frequency rank
26490
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sähe say
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sehen sagen

Where the eye mixes sähe and say

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
sähe
3 ch
say

Visual trap between sähe and say

A purely visual mix-up. sähe ([ˈzɛːə]) and say ([seɪ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26490, 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]. say is at rank #12,786, tagged as averb, pronounced [seɪ].

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 26490, this pair ranks #1,817,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sähe vs say

Shared letters: s. Private to "sähe": ehä. Private to "say": ay.

"sähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "say" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sähe" and "say" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛːə] versus [seɪ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sähe" vs "say" - which ranks higher?
"say" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,786 in our German list, against #13,704 for "sähe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sähe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "say" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,817,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sähe" and "say" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sähe vs Sire". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,817,238 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