Which to use
“seins” is an unknown and “spies” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,475
- “seins” frequency rank
- #43,504
- “spies” frequency rank
- 58979
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seins | spies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum bei nicht attributivem Gebrauch des Possessivpronomens sein | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs speisen |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seins and spies apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
seins and spies form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58979, 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]. spies is at rank #43,504, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːs].
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 58979, this pair ranks #841,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seins" and "spies" be used interchangeably?
Remembering seins vs spies
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 “spies”.
- 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