sehenvssteheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#187
“sehen” frequency rank
#2,179
“stehe” frequency rank
2366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehen stehe
Definition aktiv und passiv wahrnehmen über das Sinnesorgan Auge 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehen

Where the eye mixes sehen and stehe

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

5 ch
sehen
5 ch
stehe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sehen ([ˈzeːən]) and stehe ([ˈʃteːə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehen is recorded at frequency rank #187, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːən]. stehe is at rank #2,179, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːə].

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 2366, this pair ranks #2,002,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sehen vs stehe

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

"sehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "stehe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seheneshen · seehn · sehenn · sehhen · sheen · ssehen
  • stehesethe · sstehe · steeh · stehhe · sthee · sttehe · tsehe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehen" and "stehe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːən] versus [ˈʃteːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sehen" or "stehe"?
"sehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our German list, against #2,179 for "stehe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "sehen" and "stehe". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stehe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sehen" and "stehe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehe vs steps". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list