Which to use
“umdrehen” and “umsehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,189
- “umdrehen” frequency rank
- #23,341
- “umsehen” frequency rank
- 37530
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | umdrehen | umsehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas im Bogen von einer Seite auf die andere Seite bewegen | die Umgebung betrachten; zu allen Seiten blicken |
Where the eye mixes umdrehen and umsehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: umdrehen vs umsehen
A purely visual mix-up. umdrehen ([ˈʊmˌdʁeːən]) and umsehen ([ˈʊmˌzeːən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
umdrehen is recorded at frequency rank #14,189, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʊmˌdʁeːən]. umsehen is at rank #23,341, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʊmˌzeːən].
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 37530, this pair ranks #1,587,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of umdrehen vs umsehen
Shared letters: ehmnu. Private to "umdrehen": dr. Private to "umsehen": s.
"umdrehen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC · "umsehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "umdrehen" and "umsehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "umdrehen" vs "umsehen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "umdrehen" and "umsehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "umdrehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "umsehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,587,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "umdrehen" and "umsehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "umsehen vs umzusehen". 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 #1,587,816 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.