SeilenvssetzenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#27,053
“Seilen” frequency rank
#692
“setzen” frequency rank
27745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seilen setzen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Seil jemanden oder etwas in eine sitzende Position bringen

Where the eye mixes Seilen and setzen

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

6 ch
Seilen
6 ch
setzen

Look-alike desk: Seilen vs setzen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Seilen is [ˈzaɪ̯lən] while setzen is [ˈzɛt͡sn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seilen is recorded at frequency rank #27,053, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯lən]. setzen is at rank #692, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛt͡sn̩].

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 27745, this pair ranks #1,796,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Seilen vs setzen

Shared letters: ens. Private to "Seilen": il. Private to "setzen": tz.

"Seilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "setzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seilenesilen · seieln · seilenn · seillen · seilne · selien · sielen · sseilen
  • setzenestzen · setezn · settzen · setzenn · setzne · setzzen · sezten · ssetzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Seilen" and "setzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Seilen" is a noun and "setzen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Seilen" vs "setzen" - which ranks higher?
"setzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #692 in our German list, against #27,053 for "Seilen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "setzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,796,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seilen" and "setzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seilen 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

Confusion rank #1,796,577 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list