SamenvssammelWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,466
“Samen” frequency rank
#36,606
“sammel” frequency rank
43072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Samen sammel
Definition vielzelliger Fortpflanzungskörper der Samenpflanzen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sammeln

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Samen and sammel apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Samen
6 ch
sammel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Samen is [ˈzaːmən] while sammel is [ˈzaml̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Samen is recorded at frequency rank #6,466, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaːmən]. sammel is at rank #36,606, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaml̩].

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 43072, this pair ranks #1,429,499 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Samen vs sammel

Shared letters: aems. Private to "Samen": n. Private to "sammel": l.

"Samen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "sammel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Samenasmen · saemn · samenn · sammen · samne · smaen · ssamen
  • sammelasmmel · samel · sameml · sammell · smamel · ssammel

Frequency comparison

Samen#6,466
sammel#36,606

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Samen" and "sammel" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Samen" is a noun and "sammel" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Samen" or "sammel"?
"Samen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,466 in our German list, against #36,606 for "sammel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Samen vs sammel

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Samen”; for a verb, it's “sammel”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Samen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list