sagen

Name: sagen, German Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[ˈzaːɡn̩]

/[ˈzaːɡn̩]/ verb

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“sagen” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #193. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#193
frequency rank, German: 8,027
“S” headwords: 7
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - bestimmte Worte sprechen (mit direkter oder indirekter Rede verwendet)

Corpus desk

Index DE-sagen · sagen · German

sagen · rank #193 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-CORE #193
LEN-MID 5 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-MID 7 variants
BOOK-DENSE 8,027
PHOTO-FINISH ins

Nearest frequency peer: ins (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Berlin

99,811
dafür

99,810
ins

99,809
sagen

99,808
steht

99,807
während

99,806

What this shows „sagen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sagen vs sagt

60% similar

sagen vs Sven

40% similar

sagen vs Seen

40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sagen
Property	Value
Headword	sagen
Language	German
Part of speech	Verb
IPA	[ˈzaːɡn̩]
Letters	5
Frequency rank	#193
Misspellings tracked	7
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „sagen“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).sagenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#193

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ins“ (#192), „steht“ (#194), „dafür“ (#191). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „sagen“ bei #193. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around sagen (IPA [ˈzaːɡn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #193 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sagen, with forms such as "asgen", "saegn", and "sagenn". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sagt", "Sven", "Seen", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is sagen, spelled S-A-G-E-N.

Definition

1
bestimmte Worte sprechen (mit direkter oder indirekter Rede verwendet)
2
Worte an eine bestimmte Person oder Personenkreis richten
3
sich denken, sich überlegen
4
als Argument, gegebenenfalls als Beweis anführen
5
als Meinung, oder auch Haltung, vertreten

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sagen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

Er sagte: „Pass auf!“
Sag noch ein Wort, und ich gehe!

This word in other languages

say(English)decir(Español)dire(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

asgen
saegn
sagenn
saggen
sagne
sgaen
ssagen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sagen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "sagen"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sagen"?

"sagen" is spelled S-A-G-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈzaːɡn̩].

What does "sagen" mean?

As a verb, "sagen" means: bestimmte Worte sprechen (mit direkter oder indirekter Rede verwendet)

What words are commonly confused with "sagen"?

"sagen" is commonly confused with "sagt", "Sven", "Seen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "sagen"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sagen" is [ˈzaːɡn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "sagen" come from?

"sagen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sagen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

steht#194 dafür#191 sowie#188 sehen#187

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

wegen7 variants wollen7 variants kommen7 variants gehen7 variants