sein
[zaɪ̯n]
The verdict
“sein” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #63 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #63
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Kopula, die dem Subjekt ein logisches Prädikat zuordnet
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 | sein |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [zaɪ̯n] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #63 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sein” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for sein is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [zaɪ̯n]. Corpus data places it at rank #63 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sein, with forms such as "esin", "seinn", and "seni". 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, "Sn", "sie", "Sex", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is sein, spelled S-E-I-N.
Definition
- 1Kopula, die dem Subjekt ein logisches Prädikat zuordnet
- 2sich am genannten Ort befinden
- 3existieren
- 4Hilfszeitwort zur Bildung zusammengesetzter Zeiten bestimmter Verben
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: esin,seinn,seni,sien,ssein
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sein - 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.
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
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Using “sein”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-E-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [zaɪ̯n] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Sn” - see the side-by-side comparison. sein vs Sn
- 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.