sehenvsstehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#187
“sehen” frequency rank
#297
“stehen” frequency rank
484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehen stehen
Definition aktiv und passiv wahrnehmen über das Sinnesorgan Auge sich auf den Beinen ohne Ortsveränderung aufhalten

Where the eye mixes sehen and stehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sehen
6 ch
stehen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sehen ([ˈzeːən]) and stehen ([ˈʃteːən]) 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 484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehen is recorded at frequency rank #187, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːən]. stehen is at rank #297, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːən].

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 484, this pair ranks #2,005,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sehen vs stehen

Shared letters: ehns. Private to "sehen": -. Private to "stehen": t.

"sehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "stehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seheneshen · seehn · sehenn · sehhen · sheen · ssehen
  • stehensethen · sstehen · steehn · stehenn · stehhen · stehne · stheen · sttehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehen" and "stehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːən] versus [ˈʃteːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sehen" or "stehen"?
"sehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our German list, against #297 for "stehen". 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