Which to use
“seufzen” is a verb and “Seufzer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,776
- “seufzen” frequency rank
- #42,809
- “Seufzer” frequency rank
- 80585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seufzen | Seufzer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hörbar und heftig ein- und ausatmen, als Zeichen starker Gefühle wie Kummer, Erleichterung oder Resignation | mit hörbarem Atem begleitete verhaltene Äußerung des Missfallens oder der Zustimmung |
Where the eye mixes seufzen and Seufzer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. seufzen and Seufzer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses seufzen with Seufzer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seufzen is [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡sn̩] while Seufzer is [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡sɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “seufzen” becomes r in “Seufzer”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seufzen is recorded at frequency rank #37,776, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡sn̩]. Seufzer is at rank #42,809, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ft͡sɐ].
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 80585, this pair ranks #192,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of seufzen vs Seufzer
Shared letters: efsuz. Private to "seufzen": n. Private to "Seufzer": r.
"seufzen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "Seufzer" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "seufzen" for "Seufzer" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "seufzen" or "Seufzer" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "seufzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Seufzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seufzen" and "Seufzer" 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 #192,665 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.