seistvssetConfusable pair

Quick tell: seist is a unknown, set is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“seist” is an unknown and “set” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,764
“seist” frequency rank
#3,995
“set” frequency rank
36759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seist set
Definition 2. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens von sein Kardinalzahl zwischen sechs und acht

Letter map: seist vs set

Shared letters muted; letters that set seist and set apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. seist runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against set's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
seist
3 ch
set

Grammar separator: seist vs set

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seist is anunknown and setanum. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seist is recorded at frequency rank #32,764, classified as anunknown, pronounced [zaɪ̯st]. set is at rank #3,995, tagged as anum, 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 36759, this pair ranks #1,607,380 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seist vs set

Shared letters: est. Private to "seist": i. Private to "set": -.

"seist" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "set" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seist ← esist · seisst · seistt · seits · sesit · siest · sseist

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "seist" for "set" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seist" is an unknown and "set" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "seist" or "set" show up more?
"set" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,995 in our German list, against #32,764 for "seist". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "seist" and "set".

  • Full dictionary entry for "seist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "set" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,607,380 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seist" and "set" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seist vs steigst". 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 #1,607,380 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