selbe

[ˈzɛlbə]

/[ˈzɛlbə]/ pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“selbe” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #5,306. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,306
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - identisch (im Sinne von nicht wiederholbar)

Corpus desk

Index DE-selbe · selbe · German

selbe · rank #5,306 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,306
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schwul

Nearest frequency peer: schwul (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „selbe“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

selbe vs self
60% similar
selbe vs sole
60% similar
selbe vs sell
60% similar

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

Key facts for selbe
PropertyValue
Headwordselbe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPronoun
IPA[ˈzɛlbə]
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,306
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „selbe“

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

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „schwul“ (#5,305), „setze“ (#5,307), „schwanger“ (#5,304). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „selbe“ bei #5,306. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around selbe (IPA [ˈzɛlbə]), apronoun. Corpus frequency is #5,306 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "identisch (im Sinne von nicht wiederholbar)".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for selbe, with forms such as "eslbe", "seble", and "selbbe". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "self", "sole", "sell", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is selbe, spelled S-E-L-B-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    identisch (im Sinne von nicht wiederholbar)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Zur selben Zeit ereignete sich anderenorts etwas ganz anderes.
  2. „Erschröcklich muß der Tag des Gerichts in sich selber seyn einem jeden Christen, als welchen die Göttliche Schrifft an so viel Orten überzeuget, daß selber Tag von GOtt nicht nur zur Belohnung deren Gerechten, sondern auch zur Abstraffung deren Gottlosen bestellet seye.“

Synonyms

derselbeselbig

This word in other languages

same(English)mismo(Español)même(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eslbe
  • seble
  • selbbe
  • seleb
  • sellbe
  • slebe
  • sselbe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of selbe - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

eslbe2seble2selbbe1seleb2sellbe1slebe2sselbe1
Edit distance from "selbe"

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 "selbe"?
"selbe" is spelled S-E-L-B-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈzɛlbə].
What does "selbe" mean?
As a pronoun, "selbe" means: identisch (im Sinne von nicht wiederholbar)
What words are commonly confused with "selbe"?
"selbe" is commonly confused with "self", "sole", "sell". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "selbe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "selbe" is [ˈzɛlbə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "selbe" come from?
"selbe" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "selbe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

setze#5,307route#5,299Trier#5,321Zeuge#5,332

Similar misspelling depth

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

Höhle7 variantscoach7 variantsGenuss7 variantsWände7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list