Which to use
“seltener” and “seltenes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,115
- “seltener” frequency rank
- #22,137
- “seltenes” frequency rank
- 27252
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seltener | seltenes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs selten | Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs selten |
Where the eye mixes seltener and seltenes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. seltener and seltenes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between seltener and seltenes
A purely visual mix-up. seltener ([ˈzɛltənɐ]) 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 a single letter - r in “seltener” becomes s in “seltenes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seltener is recorded at frequency rank #5,115, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltənɐ]. 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 27252, this pair ranks #1,804,784 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seltener vs seltenes
Shared letters: elnst. Private to "seltener": r. Private to "seltenes": -.
"seltener" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "seltenes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seltener" and "seltenes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "seltener" or "seltenes" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "seltener" 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 #1,804,784 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seltener" and "seltenes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seltenen vs seltenes". 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 #1,804,784 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.