Which to use
“seit” is a preposition and “speist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #120
- “seit” frequency rank
- #31,798
- “speist” frequency rank
- 31918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seit | speist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von … an, ausgehend von … (Zeitpunkt) | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs speisen |
Where the eye mixes seit and speist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: seit vs speist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seit is [zaɪ̯t] while speist is [ʃpaɪ̯st]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seit is recorded at frequency rank #120, classified as aprep, pronounced [zaɪ̯t]. 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 31918, this pair ranks #1,718,415 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seit vs speist
Shared letters: eist. Private to "seit": -. Private to "speist": p.
"seit" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "speist" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "seit" for "speist" ever safe?
Frequency check: "seit" vs "speist" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "seit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "speist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,718,415 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seit" and "speist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "speist 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 #1,718,415 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.