sehnenvsSohlenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sehnen is a verb, Sohlen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sehnen” is a verb and “Sohlen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,208
“sehnen” frequency rank
#30,771
“Sohlen” frequency rank
45979
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sehnen Sohlen
Definition den starken Wunsch haben, dass jemand oder etwas da ist Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sohle

Where the eye mixes sehnen and Sohlen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sehnen
6 ch
Sohlen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sehnen is [ˈzeːnən] while Sohlen is [ˈzoːlən]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45979, 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]. Sohlen is at rank #30,771, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzoːlən].

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 45979, this pair ranks #1,334,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sehnen vs Sohlen

Shared letters: ehns. Private to "sehnen": -. Private to "Sohlen": lo.

"sehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Sohlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sehneneshnen · sehhnen · sehnenn · sehnne · sehnnen · senhen · shenen · ssehnen
  • Sohlenoshlen · sholen · soheln · sohhlen · sohlenn · sohllen · sohlne · solhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sehnen" and "Sohlen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sehnen" is a verb and "Sohlen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sehnen" or "Sohlen"?
"sehnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,208 in our German list, against #30,771 for "Sohlen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "sehnen" and "Sohlen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sohlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,334,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sehnen" and "Sohlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sohlen vs Stilen". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list