seinvssendWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“sein” and “send” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,601
“sein” frequency rank
#38,964
“send” frequency rank
84565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sein send
Definition Ser, estar. Mandar, enviar.

Where the eye mixes sein and send

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sein (CVVC) and send (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
sein
4 ch
send

Visual trap between sein and send

A purely visual mix-up. sein ([ˈzaɪ̯n]) and send (/ˈsɛnd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sein is recorded at frequency rank #45,601, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯n]. send is at rank #38,964, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsɛnd/.

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 84565, this pair ranks #6,936 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sein vs send

Shared letters: ens. Private to "sein": i. Private to "send": d.

"sein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "send" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sein ← esin · seinn · seni · ssein
  • send ← cend · esnd · sedn · sendd · sennd · sned · ssend

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sein" for "send" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaɪ̯n] versus /ˈsɛnd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sein" vs "send" - which ranks higher?
"send" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,964 in our Spanish list, against #45,601 for "sein". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "send" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,936 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sein" and "send" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei vs sein". 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 #6,936 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list