seinsvssiesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: seins is a unknown, sies is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“seins” is an unknown and “sies” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,475
“seins” frequency rank
#40,209
“sies” frequency rank
55684
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seins sies
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum bei nicht attributivem Gebrauch des Possessivpronomens sein archaisch: 2. Person Singular Konjunktiv Präsens Aktiv des Verbs esse

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seins and sies apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
seins
4 ch
sies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seins is anunknown and siesaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seins is recorded at frequency rank #15,475, classified as anunknown, pronounced [zaɪ̯ns]. sies is at rank #40,209, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 55684, this pair ranks #969,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seins vs sies

Shared letters: eis. Private to "seins": n. Private to "sies": -.

"seins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "sies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seinsesins · seinns · seinss · seisn · senis · siens · sseins
  • siesseis · siess · sise · ssies

Frequency comparison

seins#15,475
sies#40,209

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seins" and "sies" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seins" is an unknown and "sies" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "seins" or "sies"?
"seins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,475 in our German list, against #40,209 for "sies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seins vs sies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “seins”; for a verb, it's “sies”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seins” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list