Which to use
“seitens” is a preposition and “selten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,918
- “seitens” frequency rank
- #911
- “selten” frequency rank
- 4829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seitens | selten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf der Seite von …; von … aus | nur in geringen Mengen vorhanden |
Where the eye mixes seitens and selten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. seitens runs 7 letters (CVVCVCC) against selten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between seitens and selten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seitens is [ˈzaɪ̯tn̩s] while selten is [ˈzɛltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seitens is recorded at frequency rank #3,918, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯tn̩s]. selten is at rank #911, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltn̩].
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 4829, this pair ranks #1,996,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seitens vs selten
Shared letters: enst. Private to "seitens": i. Private to "selten": l.
"seitens" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "selten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seitens" and "selten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "seitens" or "selten"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "seitens" and "selten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "seitens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "selten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,996,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seitens" and "selten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "selten vs Stuten". 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 #1,996,553 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.