seltsamevsseltsamenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,528
“seltsame” frequency rank
#12,381
“seltsamen” frequency rank
19909
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seltsame seltsamen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs seltsam Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs seltsam

Where the eye mixes seltsame and seltsamen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. seltsame runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against seltsamen's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
seltsame
9 ch
seltsamen

Visual trap between seltsame and seltsamen

A purely visual mix-up. seltsame ([ˈzɛltzaːmə]) and seltsamen ([ˈzɛltzaːmən]) 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) - “seltsame” sits inside “seltsamen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seltsame is recorded at frequency rank #7,528, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltzaːmə]. seltsamen is at rank #12,381, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltzaːmən].

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 19909, this pair ranks #1,903,332 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seltsame vs seltsamen

Shared letters: aelmst. Private to "seltsame": -. Private to "seltsamen": n.

"seltsame" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "seltsamen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seltsame ← esltsame · selltsame · selstame · seltasme · seltsaem · seltsamme · seltsmae · seltssame
  • seltsamen ← esltsamen · selltsamen · selstamen · seltasmen · seltsaemn · seltsamenn · seltsammen · seltsamne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seltsame" and "seltsamen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛltzaːmə] versus [ˈzɛltzaːmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "seltsame" or "seltsamen"?
"seltsame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,528 in our German list, against #12,381 for "seltsamen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "seltsame" and "seltsamen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seltsame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seltsamen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,903,332 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seltsame" and "seltsamen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seltsamen vs seltsamer". 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 #1,903,332 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