Which to use
“seien” and “sieh” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #782
- “seien” frequency rank
- #4,556
- “sieh” frequency rank
- 5338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seien | sieh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sein | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sehen |
Where the eye mixes seien and sieh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses seien with sieh
A purely visual mix-up. seien ([ˈzaɪ̯ən]) and sieh ([ziː]) 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 5338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seien is recorded at frequency rank #782, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯ən]. sieh is at rank #4,556, tagged as averb, pronounced [ziː].
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 5338, this pair ranks #1,995,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seien vs sieh
Shared letters: eis. Private to "seien": n. Private to "sieh": h.
"seien" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "sieh" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "seien" and "sieh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "seien" vs "sieh" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "seien" and "sieh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "seien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sieh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,995,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seien" and "sieh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs sieh". 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 #1,995,065 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.