segelnvssehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,976
“segeln” frequency rank
#187
“sehen” frequency rank
10163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature segeln sehen
Definition schweben, gleiten, fliegen aktiv und passiv wahrnehmen über das Sinnesorgan Auge

Where the eye mixes segeln and sehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. segeln runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against sehen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
segeln
5 ch
sehen

Look-alike desk: segeln vs sehen

A purely visual mix-up. segeln ([ˈzeːɡl̩n]) and sehen ([ˈzeːən]) 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 10163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

segeln is recorded at frequency rank #9,976, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːɡl̩n]. sehen is at rank #187, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːən].

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 10163, this pair ranks #1,976,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of segeln vs sehen

Shared letters: ens. Private to "segeln": gl. Private to "sehen": h.

"segeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "sehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • segelnesgeln · seegln · segelln · segelnn · segenl · seggeln · seglen · sgeeln
  • seheneshen · seehn · sehenn · sehhen · sheen · ssehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "segeln" for "sehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːɡl̩n] versus [ˈzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "segeln" or "sehen" show up more?
"sehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our German list, against #9,976 for "segeln". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "segeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "segeln" and "sehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seel vs segeln". 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 #1,976,487 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