SeitevsSpeiseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#302
“Seite” frequency rank
#24,931
“Speise” frequency rank
25233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seite Speise
Definition in einer bestimmten Richtung liegende Begrenzungsfläche Mahlzeit, zubereitetes Gericht

Where the eye mixes Seite and Speise

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

5 ch
Seite
6 ch
Speise

Visual trap between Seite and Speise

A purely visual mix-up. Seite ([ˈzaɪ̯tə]) and Speise ([ˈʃpaɪ̯zə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seite is recorded at frequency rank #302, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯tə]. Speise is at rank #24,931, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpaɪ̯zə].

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 25233, this pair ranks #1,836,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Seite vs Speise

Shared letters: eis. Private to "Seite": t. Private to "Speise": p.

"Seite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Speise" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seiteesite · seiet · seitte · setie · siete · sseite
  • Speisepseise · sepise · speies · speisse · spesie · spiese · sppeise · sspeise

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Seite" for "Speise" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaɪ̯tə] versus [ˈʃpaɪ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Seite" or "Speise"?
"Seite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #302 in our German list, against #24,931 for "Speise". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Speise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,836,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seite" and "Speise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Speise vs steife". 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 #1,836,229 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