Which to use
“seltene” and “seltenen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,817
- “seltene” frequency rank
- #8,622
- “seltenen” frequency rank
- 16439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seltene | seltenen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs selten | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs selten |
Where the eye mixes seltene and seltenen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. seltene runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against seltenen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: seltene vs seltenen
A purely visual mix-up. seltene ([ˈzɛltənə]) and seltenen ([ˈzɛltənən]) 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) - “seltene” sits inside “seltenen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seltene is recorded at frequency rank #7,817, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltənə]. seltenen is at rank #8,622, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltənən].
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 16439, this pair ranks #1,935,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seltene vs seltenen
Shared letters: elnst. Private to "seltene": -. Private to "seltenen": -.
"seltene" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "seltenen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "seltene" for "seltenen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "seltene" vs "seltenen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "seltene" and "seltenen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "seltene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seltenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,935,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seltene" and "seltenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seltenen vs seltensten". 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 #1,935,850 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.