seltenevsseltenesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,817
“seltene” frequency rank
#22,137
“seltenes” frequency rank
29954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seltene seltenes
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs selten Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs selten

Where the eye mixes seltene and seltenes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. seltene runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against seltenes's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
seltene
8 ch
seltenes

Visual trap between seltene and seltenes

A purely visual mix-up. seltene ([ˈzɛltənə]) and seltenes ([ˈzɛltənəs]) 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 “seltenes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29954, 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]. seltenes is at rank #22,137, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltənəs].

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 29954, this pair ranks #1,757,091 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seltene vs seltenes

Shared letters: elnst. Private to "seltene": -. Private to "seltenes": -.

"seltene" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "seltenes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seltene ← esltene · seletne · selltene · selteen · seltenne · seltnee · selttene · setlene
  • seltenes ← esltenes · seletnes · selltenes · selteens · selteness · seltennes · seltense · seltnees

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "seltene" for "seltenes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛltənə] versus [ˈzɛltənəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "seltene" or "seltenes"?
"seltene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,817 in our German list, against #22,137 for "seltenes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "seltene" and "seltenes" 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 "seltenes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,757,091 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seltene" and "seltenes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sekten vs seltene". 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 #1,757,091 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