Which to use
“sich” is a pronoun and “sieht” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20
- “sich” frequency rank
- #253
- “sieht” frequency rank
- 273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sich | sieht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Reflexivpronomen der dritten Person Singular | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sehen |
Where the eye mixes sich and sieht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sich with sieht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sich is [zɪç] while sieht is [ziːt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sich is recorded at frequency rank #20, classified as apron, pronounced [zɪç]. sieht is at rank #253, tagged as averb, pronounced [ziːt].
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 273, this pair ranks #2,006,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sich vs sieht
Shared letters: his. Private to "sich": c. Private to "sieht": et.
"sich" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sieht" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sich" and "sieht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "sich" or "sieht" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sieht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sich" and "sieht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sich vs Sire". 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 #2,006,060 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.