SehnevssensTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,136
“Sehne” frequency rank
#42,806
“sens” frequency rank
64942
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sehne sens
Definition Band aus Bindegewebe zwischen Muskeln und Knochen zur wechselseitigen Übertragung der im Bewegungsablauf auftretenden mechanischen Kräfte Bedeutung; Sinn

Where the eye mixes Sehne and sens

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

5 ch
Sehne
4 ch
sens

Look-alike desk: Sehne vs sens

A purely visual mix-up. Sehne ([ˈzeːnə]) and sens ([sɑ̃s]) 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 64942, 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]. sens is at rank #42,806, tagged as anoun, pronounced [sɑ̃s].

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 64942, this pair ranks #623,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sehne vs sens

Shared letters: ens. Private to "Sehne": h. Private to "sens": -.

"Sehne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sehne ← eshne · sehhne · senhe · shene · ssehne
  • sens ← esns · senns · senss · sesn · snes · ssens

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sehne" and "sens" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːnə] versus [sɑ̃s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Sehne" vs "sens" - which ranks higher?
"Sehne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,136 in our German list, against #42,806 for "sens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sehne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #623,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sehne" and "sens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs sens". 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 #623,973 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