sahen
[ˈzaːən]
The verdict
“sahen” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #2,987 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #2,987
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sehen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sahen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈzaːən] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #2,987 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sahen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for sahen is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈzaːən]. Corpus data places it at rank #2,987 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for sahen, with forms such as "ashen", "saehn", and "sahenn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "she", "Sohn", "sehe", 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is sahen, spelled S-A-H-E-N.
Definition
- 11. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sehen
- 23. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sehen
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ashen,saehn,sahenn,sahhen,shaen,ssahen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sahen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "sahen"?
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Using “sahen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-A-H-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈzaːən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “she” - see the side-by-side comparison. sahen vs she
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.