samtvsseitWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“samt” and “seit” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,155
“samt” frequency rank
#120
“seit” frequency rank
4275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature samt seit
Definition mit Dativ: zusammen mit von … an, ausgehend von … (Zeitpunkt)

Where the eye mixes samt and seit

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

4 ch
samt
4 ch
seit

Why the eye confuses samt with seit

A purely visual mix-up. samt ([zamt]) and seit ([zaɪ̯t]) 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 4275, 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]. seit is at rank #120, tagged as aprep, pronounced [zaɪ̯t].

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 4275, this pair ranks #1,998,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of samt vs seit

Shared letters: st. Private to "samt": am. Private to "seit": ei.

"samt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "seit" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • samtasmt · sammt · samtt · satm · smat · ssamt
  • seitesit · seitt · seti · siet · sseit

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "samt" and "seit" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zamt] versus [zaɪ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "samt" vs "seit" - which ranks higher?
"seit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #120 in our German list, against #4,155 for "samt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "samt" and "seit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "samt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,998,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "samt" and "seit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "samt vs shut". 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 #1,998,130 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