Which to use
“sehnen” is a verb and “selten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,208
- “sehnen” frequency rank
- #911
- “selten” frequency rank
- 16119
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sehnen | selten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den starken Wunsch haben, dass jemand oder etwas da ist | nur in geringen Mengen vorhanden |
Where the eye mixes sehnen and selten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sehnen and selten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sehnen is [ˈzeːnən] while selten is [ˈzɛltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16119, 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]. selten is at rank #911, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltn̩].
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 16119, this pair ranks #1,938,429 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sehnen vs selten
Shared letters: ens. Private to "sehnen": h. Private to "selten": lt.
"sehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "selten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sehnen" for "selten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sehnen" vs "selten" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sehnen" and "selten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "selten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,938,429 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sehnen" and "selten" 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 #1,938,429 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.