SehnevsSeineWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Sehne is a noun, Seine is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Sehne” is a noun and “Seine” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,136
“Sehne” frequency rank
#96
“Seine” frequency rank
22232
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sehne Seine
Definition Band aus Bindegewebe zwischen Muskeln und Knochen zur wechselseitigen Übertragung der im Bewegungsablauf auftretenden mechanischen Kräfte drittlängster Fluss Frankreichs, der in Burgund entspringt, Paris durchfließt und in den Ärmelkanal mündet

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Sehne and Seine apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Sehne
5 ch
Seine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sehne is [ˈzeːnə] while Seine is [ˈzɛːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “Sehne” becomes i in “Seine”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sehne is recorded at frequency rank #22,136, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːnə]. Seine is at rank #96, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈzɛːn].

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 22232, this pair ranks #1,876,700 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sehne vs Seine

Shared letters: ens. Private to "Sehne": h. Private to "Seine": i.

"Sehne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Seine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sehneeshne · sehhne · senhe · shene · ssehne
  • Seineesine · seinne · senie · siene · sseine

Frequency comparison

Sehne#22,136
Seine#96

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sehne" and "Seine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sehne" is a noun and "Seine" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Sehne" or "Seine"?
"Seine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #96 in our German list, against #22,136 for "Sehne". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Sehne vs Seine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list