seitdemvsseitherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“seitdem” and “seither” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,821
“seitdem” frequency rank
#4,647
“seither” frequency rank
6468
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seitdem seither
Definition von einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt an von einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt an

Where the eye mixes seitdem and seither

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. seitdem and seither follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
seitdem
7 ch
seither

Visual trap between seitdem and seither

A purely visual mix-up. seitdem ([zaɪ̯tˈdeːm]) and seither ([ˌzaɪ̯tˈheːɐ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seitdem is recorded at frequency rank #1,821, classified as anadv, pronounced [zaɪ̯tˈdeːm]. seither is at rank #4,647, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˌzaɪ̯tˈheːɐ̯].

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 6468, this pair ranks #1,991,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seitdem vs seither

Shared letters: eist. Private to "seitdem": dm. Private to "seither": hr.

"seitdem" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "seither" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seitdem ← esitdem · seidtem · seitddem · seitdemm · seitdme · seitedm · seittdem · setidem
  • seither ← esither · seihter · seitehr · seitherr · seithher · seithre · seitther · setiher

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "seitdem" for "seither" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([zaɪ̯tˈdeːm] versus [ˌzaɪ̯tˈheːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "seitdem" vs "seither" - which ranks higher?
"seitdem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,821 in our German list, against #4,647 for "seither". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seitdem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seither" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,991,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seitdem" and "seither" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seher vs seither". 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 #1,991,533 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