Which to use
“siebten” is an adjective and “siebzehn” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,263
- “siebten” frequency rank
- #26,169
- “siebzehn” frequency rank
- 35432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | siebten | siebzehn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs siebte | die Kardinalzahl zwischen sechzehn und achtzehn |
Where the eye mixes siebten and siebzehn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. siebten runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against siebzehn's 8 (CVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses siebten with siebzehn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: siebten is [ˈziːptn̩] while siebzehn is [ˈziːpt͡seːn]. 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 (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
siebten is recorded at frequency rank #9,263, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈziːptn̩]. 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 35432, this pair ranks #1,640,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of siebten vs siebzehn
Shared letters: beins. Private to "siebten": t. Private to "siebzehn": hz.
"siebten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "siebzehn" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "siebten" and "siebzehn" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "siebten" or "siebzehn"?
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 "siebten" 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 #1,640,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "siebten" and "siebzehn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sieber vs siebten". 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 #1,640,145 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.