Which to use
“seal” and “sei” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,260
- “seal” frequency rank
- #185
- “sei” frequency rank
- 32445
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seal | sei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dichten, abdichten | 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes seal and sei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses seal with sei
A purely visual mix-up. seal ([siːl]) and sei ([zaɪ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seal is recorded at frequency rank #32,260, classified as averb, pronounced [siːl]. sei is at rank #185, tagged as averb, pronounced [zaɪ̯].
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 32445, this pair ranks #1,707,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seal vs sei
Shared letters: es. Private to "seal": al. Private to "sei": i.
"seal" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sei" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- seal ← esal · seall · sela · sseal
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seal" and "sei" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "seal" vs "sei" - 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 "seal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,707,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seal" and "sei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seal 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 #1,707,408 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.