samtvssayWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: samt is a preposition, say is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“samt” is a preposition and “say” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,155
“samt” frequency rank
#12,786
“say” frequency rank
16941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature samt say
Definition mit Dativ: zusammen mit sagen

Where the eye mixes samt and say

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
samt
3 ch
say

Visual trap between samt and say

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: samt is [zamt] while say is [seɪ]. 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 (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

samt is recorded at frequency rank #4,155, classified as aprep, pronounced [zamt]. say is at rank #12,786, tagged as averb, pronounced [seɪ].

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 16941, this pair ranks #1,931,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of samt vs say

Shared letters: as. Private to "samt": mt. Private to "say": y.

"samt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "say" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • samtasmt · sammt · samtt · satm · smat · ssamt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "samt" and "say" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "samt" is a preposition and "say" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "samt" vs "say" - which ranks higher?
"samt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,155 in our German list, against #12,786 for "say". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "samt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "say" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,931,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "samt" and "say" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "say 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 #1,931,738 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