Which to use
“sehnen” is a verb and “Sühne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,208
- “sehnen” frequency rank
- #41,488
- “Sühne” frequency rank
- 56696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sehnen | Sühne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den starken Wunsch haben, dass jemand oder etwas da ist | eine Wiedergutmachung, eine Genugtuung, eine Leistung für ein begangenes Unrecht oder ein Verschulden |
Where the eye mixes sehnen and Sühne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sehnen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Sühne's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: sehnen vs Sühne
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sehnen is [ˈzeːnən] while Sühne is [ˈzyːnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56696, 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]. Sühne is at rank #41,488, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzyːnə].
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 56696, this pair ranks #930,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sehnen vs Sühne
Shared letters: ehns. Private to "sehnen": -. Private to "Sühne": ü.
"sehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Sühne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sehnen ← eshnen · sehhnen · sehnenn · sehnne · sehnnen · senhen · shenen · ssehnen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sehnen" and "Sühne" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "sehnen" or "Sühne" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sehnen" and "Sühne" 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 "Sühne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #930,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sehnen" and "Sühne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sohns 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 #930,139 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.