Which to use
“sehnen” and “seien” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,208
- “sehnen” frequency rank
- #782
- “seien” frequency rank
- 15990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sehnen | seien |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den starken Wunsch haben, dass jemand oder etwas da ist | 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes sehnen and seien
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sehnen with seien
A purely visual mix-up. sehnen ([ˈzeːnən]) and seien ([ˈzaɪ̯ən]) 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 15990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sehnen is recorded at frequency rank #15,208, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzeːnən]. seien is at rank #782, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯ən].
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 15990, this pair ranks #1,939,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sehnen vs seien
Shared letters: ens. Private to "sehnen": h. Private to "seien": i.
"sehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "seien" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sehnen" for "seien" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sehnen" vs "seien" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,939,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sehnen" and "seien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sehnen vs Sühne". 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 #1,939,535 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.