SehervsSehneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,624
“Seher” frequency rank
#22,136
“Sehne” frequency rank
61760
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seher Sehne
Definition jemand, der sich etwas ansieht Band aus Bindegewebe zwischen Muskeln und Knochen zur wechselseitigen Übertragung der im Bewegungsablauf auftretenden mechanischen Kräfte

Where the eye mixes Seher and Sehne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Seher (CVCVC) and Sehne (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Seher
5 ch
Sehne

Look-alike desk: Seher vs Sehne

A purely visual mix-up. Seher ([ˈzeːɐ]) and Sehne ([ˈzeːnə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seher is recorded at frequency rank #39,624, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːɐ]. Sehne is at rank #22,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːnə].

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 61760, this pair ranks #737,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Seher vs Sehne

Shared letters: ehs. Private to "Seher": r. Private to "Sehne": n.

"Seher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Sehne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seher ← esher · seehr · seherr · sehher · sehre · sheer · sseher
  • Sehne ← eshne · sehhne · senhe · shene · ssehne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Seher" and "Sehne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːɐ] versus [ˈzeːnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Seher" vs "Sehne" - which ranks higher?
"Sehne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,136 in our German list, against #39,624 for "Seher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sehne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #737,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seher" and "Sehne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seher vs steter". 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

Confusion rank #737,684 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list