Which to use
“seal” and “ser” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,260
- “seal” frequency rank
- #16,824
- “ser” frequency rank
- 49084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seal | ser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dichten, abdichten | sein |
Where the eye mixes seal and ser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: seal vs ser
A purely visual mix-up. seal ([siːl]) and ser ([sɛ]) 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 49084, 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]. ser is at rank #16,824, tagged as averb, pronounced [sɛ].
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 49084, this pair ranks #1,224,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of seal vs ser
Shared letters: es. Private to "seal": al. Private to "ser": r.
"seal" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ser" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- seal ← esal · seall · sela · sseal
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "seal" and "ser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "seal" or "ser" show up more?
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 "seal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,224,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seal" and "ser" 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 #1,224,651 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.