sehnvsstehtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,016
“sehn” frequency rank
#194
“steht” frequency rank
13210
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehn steht
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sehnen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehen

Where the eye mixes sehn and steht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sehn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against steht's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
sehn
5 ch
steht

Visual trap between sehn and steht

A purely visual mix-up. sehn ([zeːn]) and steht ([ʃteːt]) 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 13210, 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]. steht is at rank #194, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃteːt].

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 13210, this pair ranks #1,959,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sehn vs steht

Shared letters: ehs. Private to "sehn": n. Private to "steht": t.

"sehn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "steht" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sehn ← eshn · sehhn · sehnn · senh · shen · ssehn
  • steht ← setht · ssteht · stehht · stehtt · steth · sthet · stteht · tseht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehn" and "steht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zeːn] versus [ʃteːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sehn" vs "steht" - which ranks higher?
"steht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #194 in our German list, against #13,016 for "sehn". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sehn" and "steht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sehn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sehn" and "steht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs sehn". 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 #1,959,401 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