SeitevssitesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#302
“Seite” frequency rank
#37,784
“sites” frequency rank
38086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seite sites
Definition in einer bestimmten Richtung liegende Begrenzungsfläche Plural des Substantivs site

Where the eye mixes Seite and sites

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Seite
5 ch
sites

Visual trap between Seite and sites

A purely visual mix-up. Seite ([ˈzaɪ̯tə]) and sites ([saɪts]) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seite is recorded at frequency rank #302, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯tə]. sites is at rank #37,784, tagged as anoun, pronounced [saɪts].

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 38086, this pair ranks #1,573,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Seite vs sites

Shared letters: eist. Private to "Seite": -. Private to "sites": -.

"Seite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "sites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seiteesite · seiet · seitte · setie · siete · sseite
  • sitesistes · siets · sitess · sitse · sittes · ssites · sties

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Seite" for "sites" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaɪ̯tə] versus [saɪts]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Seite" or "sites"?
"Seite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #302 in our German list, against #37,784 for "sites". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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 "sites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,573,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seite" and "sites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs sites". 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 #1,573,182 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