sehenvssevenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#187
“sehen” frequency rank
#16,825
“seven” frequency rank
17012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehen seven
Definition aktiv und passiv wahrnehmen über das Sinnesorgan Auge sieben

Where the eye mixes sehen and seven

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sehen
5 ch
seven

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sehen is [ˈzeːən] while seven is [ˈsɛv.ən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “sehen” becomes v in “seven”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehen is recorded at frequency rank #187, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːən]. seven is at rank #16,825, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈsɛv.ən].

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 17012, this pair ranks #1,931,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sehen vs seven

Shared letters: ens. Private to "sehen": h. Private to "seven": v.

"sehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "seven" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seheneshen · seehn · sehenn · sehhen · sheen · ssehen
  • sevenesven · seevn · sevenn · sevne · sevven · sseven · sveen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehen" and "seven" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sehen" is a verb and "seven" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sehen" or "seven"?
"sehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our German list, against #16,825 for "seven". 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