sämtlichenvsseitlichenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,129
“sämtlichen” frequency rank
#16,278
“seitlichen” frequency rank
27407
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sämtlichen seitlichen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sämtlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs seitlich

Where the eye mixes sämtlichen and seitlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. sämtlichen (CVCCCVCCVC) and seitlichen (CVVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
sämtlichen
10 ch
seitlichen

Visual trap between sämtlichen and seitlichen

A purely visual mix-up. sämtlichen ([ˈzɛmtlɪçn̩]) and seitlichen ([ˈzaɪ̯tlɪçn̩]) 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 27407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sämtlichen is recorded at frequency rank #11,129, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛmtlɪçn̩]. seitlichen is at rank #16,278, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯tlɪçn̩].

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 27407, this pair ranks #1,802,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sämtlichen vs seitlichen

Shared letters: cehilnst. Private to "sämtlichen": mä. Private to "seitlichen": -.

"sämtlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "seitlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seitlichen ← esitlichen · seiltichen · seitilchen · seitlcihen · seitlicchen · seitlicehn · seitlichenn · seitlichhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sämtlichen" for "seitlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛmtlɪçn̩] versus [ˈzaɪ̯tlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sämtlichen" or "seitlichen"?
"sämtlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,129 in our German list, against #16,278 for "seitlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sämtlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seitlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,802,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sämtlichen" and "seitlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sämtlich vs sämtlichen". 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 #1,802,267 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