Which to use
“selten” and “seltene” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #911
- “selten” frequency rank
- #7,817
- “seltene” frequency rank
- 8728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | selten | seltene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nur in geringen Mengen vorhanden | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs selten |
Where the eye mixes selten and seltene
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. selten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against seltene's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between selten and seltene
A purely visual mix-up. selten ([ˈzɛltn̩]) and seltene ([ˈzɛltənə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “selten” sits inside “seltene”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
selten is recorded at frequency rank #911, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltn̩]. seltene is at rank #7,817, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltənə].
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 8728, this pair ranks #1,983,090 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of selten vs seltene
Shared letters: elnst. Private to "selten": -. Private to "seltene": -.
"selten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "seltene" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "selten" for "seltene" ever safe?
Which is more common, "selten" or "seltene"?
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 "selten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seltene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,090 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "selten" and "seltene" 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 #1,983,090 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.