sehnvsseraConfusable pair

Quick tell: sehn is a verb, sera is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sehn” is a verb and “sera” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,016
“sehn” frequency rank
#33,291
“sera” frequency rank
46307
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehn sera
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sehnen Plural des Substantivs serum

Letter map: sehn vs sera

Shared letters muted; letters that set sehn and sera apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. sehn (CVCC) and sera (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
sehn
4 ch
sera

Grammar separator: sehn vs sera

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sehn is averb and seraanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sehn is recorded at frequency rank #13,016, classified as averb, pronounced [zeːn]. sera is at rank #33,291, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 46307, this pair ranks #1,323,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sehn vs sera

Shared letters: es. Private to "sehn": hn. Private to "sera": ar.

"sehn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "sera" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sehn ← eshn · sehhn · sehnn · senh · shen · ssehn
  • sera ← sear · srea · ssera

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sehn" and "sera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sehn" is a verb and "sera" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sehn" or "sera" show up more?
"sehn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,016 in our German list, against #33,291 for "sera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "sehn" and "sera". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sehn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,323,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sehn" and "sera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs sera". 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 #1,323,651 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