Which to use
“sai” and “seal” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,708
- “sai” frequency rank
- #32,260
- “seal” frequency rank
- 79968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sai | seal |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sapere | dichten, abdichten |
Where the eye mixes sai and seal
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sai runs 3 letters (CVV) against seal's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sai and seal
A purely visual mix-up. sai ([ˈsai̯]) and seal ([siːl]) 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 79968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sai is recorded at frequency rank #47,708, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsai̯]. seal is at rank #32,260, tagged as averb, pronounced [siːl].
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 79968, this pair ranks #205,296 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sai vs seal
Shared letters: as. Private to "sai": i. Private to "seal": el.
"sai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "seal" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- seal ← esal · seall · sela · sseal
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sai" for "seal" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "sai" or "seal" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sai" and "seal" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #205,296 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sai" and "seal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sai vs seg". 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 #205,296 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.