seelvsserTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,271
“seel” frequency rank
#16,824
“ser” frequency rank
63095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seel ser
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs seelen sein

Where the eye mixes seel and ser

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

4 ch
seel
3 ch
ser

Visual trap between seel and ser

A purely visual mix-up. seel ([zeːl]) 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 63095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seel is recorded at frequency rank #46,271, classified as averb, pronounced [zeːl]. 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 63095, this pair ranks #688,987 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seel vs ser

Shared letters: es. Private to "seel": l. Private to "ser": r.

"seel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "ser" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seelseell · sseel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seel" and "ser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zeːl] versus [sɛ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "seel" or "ser"?
"ser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,824 in our German list, against #46,271 for "seel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "seel" 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 #688,987 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seel" and "ser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seel 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 #688,987 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