saysvssealsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#44,888
“says” frequency rank
#42,123
“seals” frequency rank
87011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature says seals
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs say Plural des Substantivs seal

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set says and seals apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
says
5 ch
seals

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: says is averb and sealsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

says is recorded at frequency rank #44,888, classified as averb, pronounced [sɛz]. seals is at rank #42,123, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 87011, this pair ranks #85,895 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of says vs seals

Shared letters: as. Private to "says": y. Private to "seals": el.

"says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "seals" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • saysasys · sasy · sayss · sayys · ssays · syas
  • sealsesals · sealls · sealss · seasl · selas · sseals

Frequency comparison

says#44,888
seals#42,123

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "says" and "seals" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "says" is a verb and "seals" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "says" or "seals"?
"seals" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,123 in our German list, against #44,888 for "says". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering says vs seals

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “says”; for a noun, it's “seals”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “says” 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