SeilenvsSilbenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Seilen” and “Silben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,053
“Seilen” frequency rank
#27,936
“Silben” frequency rank
54989
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seilen Silben
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Seil Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Silbe

Where the eye mixes Seilen and Silben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Seilen
6 ch
Silben

Visual trap between Seilen and Silben

A purely visual mix-up. Seilen ([ˈzaɪ̯lən]) and Silben ([ˈzɪlbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54989, 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]. Silben is at rank #27,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɪlbn̩].

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 54989, this pair ranks #997,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Seilen vs Silben

Shared letters: eilns. Private to "Seilen": -. Private to "Silben": b.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seilenesilen · seieln · seilenn · seillen · seilne · selien · sielen · sseilen
  • Silbenislben · siblen · silbben · silbenn · silbne · silebn · sillben · sliben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Seilen" and "Silben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaɪ̯lən] versus [ˈzɪlbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Seilen" or "Silben"?
"Seilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,053 in our German list, against #27,936 for "Silben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Seilen" and "Silben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Silben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #997,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seilen" and "Silben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Silben 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 #997,056 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