sähevssaysWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,704
“sähe” frequency rank
#44,888
“says” frequency rank
58592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sähe says
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sehen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs say

Where the eye mixes sähe and says

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

4 ch
sähe
4 ch
says

Look-alike desk: sähe vs says

A purely visual mix-up. sähe ([ˈzɛːə]) 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 58592, 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]. 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 58592, this pair ranks #856,873 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sähe vs says

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

"sähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • saysasys · sasy · sayss · sayys · ssays · syas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sähe" and "says" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛːə] versus [sɛz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sähe" or "says" show up more?
"sähe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,704 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

Eye-level mix-up between "sähe" and "says" 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 "says" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #856,873 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sähe" 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 #856,873 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