seufzvsseufzteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,933
“seufz” frequency rank
#40,206
“seufzte” frequency rank
68139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seufz seufzte
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs seufzen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs seufzen

Where the eye mixes seufz and seufzte

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

5 ch
seufz
7 ch
seufzte

Visual trap between seufz and seufzte

A purely visual mix-up. seufz ([zɔɪ̯ft͡s]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “seufz” sits inside “seufzte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seufz is recorded at frequency rank #27,933, classified as averb, pronounced [zɔɪ̯ft͡s]. 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 68139, this pair ranks #517,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seufz vs seufzte

Shared letters: efsuz. Private to "seufz": -. Private to "seufzte": t.

"seufz" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "seufzte" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seufz ← esufz · sefuz · seuffz · seufzz · seuzf · sseufz · suefz
  • seufzte ← esufzte · sefuzte · seuffzte · seuftze · seufzet · seufztte · seufzzte · seuzfte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "seufz" and "seufzte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([zɔɪ̯ft͡s] versus [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "seufz" or "seufzte" show up more?
"seufz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,933 in our German list, against #40,206 for "seufzte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seufz" 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 #517,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seufz" 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 #517,452 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