siebenvssiebzehnConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#912
“sieben” frequency rank
#26,169
“siebzehn” frequency rank
27081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sieben siebzehn
Definition die Kardinalzahl zwischen sechs und acht die Kardinalzahl zwischen sechzehn und achtzehn

Where the eye mixes sieben and siebzehn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sieben runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against siebzehn's 8 (CVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
sieben
8 ch
siebzehn

Look-alike desk: sieben vs siebzehn

A purely visual mix-up. sieben ([ˈziːbn̩]) and siebzehn ([ˈziːpt͡seːn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sieben is recorded at frequency rank #912, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈziːbn̩]. siebzehn is at rank #26,169, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈziːpt͡seːn].

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 27081, this pair ranks #1,807,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sieben vs siebzehn

Shared letters: beins. Private to "sieben": -. Private to "siebzehn": hz.

"sieben" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "siebzehn" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sieben ← iseben · seiben · sibeen · siebben · siebenn · siebne · sieebn · ssieben
  • siebzehn ← isebzehn · seibzehn · sibezehn · siebbzehn · siebezhn · siebzehhn · siebzehnn · siebzenh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sieben" and "siebzehn" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈziːbn̩] versus [ˈziːpt͡seːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sieben" or "siebzehn"?
"sieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #912 in our German list, against #26,169 for "siebzehn". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "siebzehn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,807,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sieben" and "siebzehn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sieben vs Stuben". 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 #1,807,647 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