SeitevsSenkeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#302
“Seite” frequency rank
#32,265
“Senke” frequency rank
32567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seite Senke
Definition in einer bestimmten Richtung liegende Begrenzungsfläche flache Vertiefung im Boden

Where the eye mixes Seite and Senke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Seite (CVVCV) and Senke (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Seite
5 ch
Senke

Visual trap between Seite and Senke

A purely visual mix-up. Seite ([ˈzaɪ̯tə]) and Senke ([ˈzɛŋkə]) 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 32567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seite is recorded at frequency rank #302, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯tə]. Senke is at rank #32,265, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛŋkə].

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 32567, this pair ranks #1,704,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Seite vs Senke

Shared letters: es. Private to "Seite": it. Private to "Senke": kn.

"Seite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Senke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seite ← esite · seiet · seitte · setie · siete · sseite
  • Senke ← esnke · sekne · senek · senkke · sennke · sneke · ssenke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Seite" for "Senke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaɪ̯tə] versus [ˈzɛŋkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Seite" or "Senke"?
"Seite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #302 in our German list, against #32,265 for "Senke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Senke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,704,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seite" and "Senke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs Senke". 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 #1,704,915 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