Which to use
“seel” is a verb and “ses” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,271
- “seel” frequency rank
- #26,610
- “ses” frequency rank
- 72881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seel | ses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs seelen | Kontraktion von jsi + se |
Where the eye mixes seel and ses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. seel runs 4 letters (CVVC) against ses's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses seel with ses
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seel is [zeːl] while ses is [sɛs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72881, 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]. ses is at rank #26,610, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [sɛs].
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 72881, this pair ranks #375,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of seel vs ses
Shared letters: es. Private to "seel": l. Private to "ses": -.
"seel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ses" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- seel ← seell · sseel
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seel" and "ses" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "seel" or "ses" 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 "seel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #375,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seel" and "ses" 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 #375,922 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.