setztevsseufzteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,434
“setzte” frequency rank
#40,206
“seufzte” frequency rank
41640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature setzte seufzte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs setzen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs seufzen

Where the eye mixes setzte and seufzte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. setzte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against seufzte's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
setzte
7 ch
seufzte

Visual trap between setzte and seufzte

A purely visual mix-up. setzte ([ˈzɛt͡stə]) and seufzte ([ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡stə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

setzte is recorded at frequency rank #1,434, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛt͡stə]. seufzte is at rank #40,206, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡stə].

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 41640, this pair ranks #1,473,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of setzte vs seufzte

Shared letters: estz. Private to "setzte": -. Private to "seufzte": fu.

"setzte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "seufzte" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • setzte ← estzte · settze · settzte · setzet · setztte · setzzte · seztte · ssetzte
  • seufzte ← esufzte · sefuzte · seuffzte · seuftze · seufzet · seufztte · seufzzte · seuzfte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "setzte" for "seufzte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛt͡stə] versus [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "setzte" or "seufzte"?
"setzte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,434 in our German list, against #40,206 for "seufzte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "setzte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seufzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,473,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "setzte" and "seufzte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seufzer vs seufzte". 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 #1,473,385 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