sehenvssehrWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sehen is a verb, sehr is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sehen” is a verb and “sehr” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#187
“sehen” frequency rank
#81
“sehr” frequency rank
268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehen sehr
Definition aktiv und passiv wahrnehmen über das Sinnesorgan Auge in hohem Maße, besonders

Where the eye mixes sehen and sehr

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sehen
4 ch
sehr

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sehen is [ˈzeːən] while sehr is [zeːɐ̯]. 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 particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehen is recorded at frequency rank #187, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːən]. sehr is at rank #81, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [zeːɐ̯].

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 268, this pair ranks #2,006,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sehen vs sehr

Shared letters: ehs. Private to "sehen": n. Private to "sehr": r.

"sehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "sehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seheneshen · seehn · sehenn · sehhen · sheen · ssehen
  • sehreshr · sehhr · sehrr · serh · sher · ssehr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehen" and "sehr" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sehen" is a verb and "sehr" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sehen" or "sehr"?
"sehr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #81 in our German list, against #187 for "sehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list