sehenvssehtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#187
“sehen” frequency rank
#3,847
“seht” frequency rank
4034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehen seht
Definition aktiv und passiv wahrnehmen über das Sinnesorgan Auge 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sehen

Where the eye mixes sehen and seht

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

5 ch
sehen
4 ch
seht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sehen ([ˈzeːən]) and seht ([zeːt]) 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 4034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehen is recorded at frequency rank #187, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːən]. seht is at rank #3,847, tagged as averb, pronounced [zeːt].

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 4034, this pair ranks #1,998,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sehen vs seht

Shared letters: ehs. Private to "sehen": n. Private to "seht": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seheneshen · seehn · sehenn · sehhen · sheen · ssehen
  • sehtesht · sehht · sehtt · shet · sseht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehen" and "seht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːən] versus [zeːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sehen" or "seht"?
"sehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our German list, against #3,847 for "seht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list