Which to use
“sekundär” is an adjective and “Sekunde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,929
- “sekundär” frequency rank
- #3,993
- “Sekunde” frequency rank
- 31922
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sekundär | Sekunde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an zweiter Stelle stehend | sechzigster Teil einer Minute; Grundeinheit der Zeit |
Where the eye mixes sekundär and Sekunde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sekundär runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against Sekunde's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sekundär with Sekunde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sekundär is [ˌzekʊnˈdɛːɐ̯] while Sekunde is [zeˈkʊndə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31922, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sekundär is recorded at frequency rank #27,929, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌzekʊnˈdɛːɐ̯]. Sekunde is at rank #3,993, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zeˈkʊndə].
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 31922, this pair ranks #1,718,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sekundär vs Sekunde
Shared letters: deknsu. Private to "sekundär": rä. Private to "Sekunde": -.
"sekundär" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "Sekunde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Sekunde ← eskunde · sekkunde · seknude · sekudne · sekundde · sekuned · sekunnde · seuknde
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sekundär" and "Sekunde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sekundär" or "Sekunde"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sekundär" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Sekunde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,718,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sekundär" and "Sekunde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sekundär vs sekundären". 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 #1,718,329 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.