Which to use
“said” and “says” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,005
- “said” frequency rank
- #44,888
- “says” frequency rank
- 57893
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | said | says |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs say | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs say |
Where the eye mixes said and says
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. said and says follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: said vs says
A purely visual mix-up. said ([sɛd]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
said is recorded at frequency rank #13,005, classified as averb, pronounced [sɛd]. 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 57893, this pair ranks #883,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of said vs says
Shared letters: as. Private to "said": di. Private to "says": y.
"said" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "said" and "says" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "said" or "says" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "said" 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 #883,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "said" 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 #883,708 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.