sehenden vs sehnen, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sehenden” is an adjective and “sehnen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,618
“sehenden” frequency rank: #15,208
“sehnen” frequency rank: 51826
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sehenden	sehnen
Definition	Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sehend	den starken Wunsch haben, dass jemand oder etwas da ist

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sehenden and sehnen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

sehenden

6 ch

sehnen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sehenden is [ˈzeːəndn̩] while sehnen is [ˈzeːnən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehenden is recorded at frequency rank #36,618, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzeːəndn̩]. sehnen is at rank #15,208, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːnən].

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 51826, this pair ranks #1,120,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sehenden vs sehnen

Shared letters: ehns. Private to "sehenden": d. Private to "sehnen": -.

"sehenden" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "sehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

sehenden ← eshenden · seehnden · sehednen · sehendden · sehendenn · sehendne · sehenedn · sehennden
sehnen ← eshnen · sehhnen · sehnenn · sehnne · sehnnen · senhen · shenen · ssehnen

Frequency comparison

sehenden#36,618

sehnen#15,208

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehenden" and "sehnen" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sehenden" is an adjective and "sehnen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sehenden" or "sehnen"?

"sehnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,208 in our German list, against #36,618 for "sehenden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sehenden vs sehnen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sehenden”; for a verb, it's “sehnen”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sehenden” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable