Which to use
“Samen” is a noun and “seien” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,466
- “Samen” frequency rank
- #782
- “seien” frequency rank
- 7248
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Samen | seien |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vielzelliger Fortpflanzungskörper der Samenpflanzen | 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes Samen and seien
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Samen and seien
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Samen is [ˈzaːmən] while seien is [ˈzaɪ̯ən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7248, 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]. seien is at rank #782, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯ən].
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 7248, this pair ranks #1,988,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Samen vs seien
Shared letters: ens. Private to "Samen": am. Private to "seien": i.
"Samen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "seien" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Samen" and "seien" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Samen" vs "seien" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Samen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Samen" and "seien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Samen vs Satin". 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 #1,988,869 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.