seinsvsSternsTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#15,475
“seins” frequency rank
#38,432
“Sterns” frequency rank
53907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seins Sterns
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum bei nicht attributivem Gebrauch des Possessivpronomens sein Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stern

Where the eye mixes seins and Sterns

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. seins runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against Sterns's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
seins
6 ch
Sterns

Look-alike desk: seins vs Sterns

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seins is [zaɪ̯ns] while Sterns is [ʃtɛʁns]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53907, 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]. Sterns is at rank #38,432, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɛʁns].

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 53907, this pair ranks #1,039,673 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seins vs Sterns

Shared letters: ens. Private to "seins": i. Private to "Sterns": rt.

"seins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "Sterns" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seins ← esins · seinns · seinss · seisn · senis · siens · sseins
  • Sterns ← setrns · ssterns · stenrs · sternns · sternss · sterrns · stersn · strens

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seins" and "Sterns" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seins" is an unknown and "Sterns" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "seins" or "Sterns"?
"seins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,475 in our German list, against #38,432 for "Sterns". 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 "seins" and "Sterns" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sterns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,039,673 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seins" and "Sterns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steps vs Sterns". 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 #1,039,673 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