seistvsspeistWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,764
“seist” frequency rank
#31,798
“speist” frequency rank
64562
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seist speist
Definition 2. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens von sein 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs speisen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seist and speist apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
seist
6 ch
speist

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seist is [zaɪ̯st] while speist is [ʃpaɪ̯st]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64562, 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]. speist is at rank #31,798, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpaɪ̯st].

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 64562, this pair ranks #637,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seist vs speist

Shared letters: eist. Private to "seist": -. Private to "speist": p.

"seist" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "speist" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seistesist · seisst · seistt · seits · sesit · siest · sseist
  • speistpseist · sepist · speisst · speistt · speits · spesit · spiest · sppeist

Frequency comparison

seist#32,764
speist#31,798

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seist" and "speist" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seist" is an unknown and "speist" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "seist" or "speist"?
"speist" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,798 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.

Remembering seist vs speist

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “seist”; for a verb, it's “speist”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seist” 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