der See
Meaning in English: lake (der); sea (die)
False friend: See is not “sea”. der See is a lake; only die See is the sea (usually das Meer). More false friends.
Example
Im Sommer schwimmen wir oft im See.
In summer we often swim in the lake.
Der, die or das?
See is masculine: der See. Careful: it is an exception. Nouns ending in -e are usually die (170 of 193 in the list). How to tell the gender from the ending.
How common is See?
See is number 2,212 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 41 times per million words — about once every 24,000 words.
Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 72% of the words in an ordinary German text. A1 means a beginner word, usually met in the first weeks of learning.
Next to it in the frequency list
- 2,208Perspektivenperspectives, prospects
- 2,209empfiehltrecommends
- 2,210machtenmade, did (past)
- 2,211einfachersimpler, easier
- 2,212der Seelake (der); sea (die)
- 2,213Studiumsof (one's) studies (genitive)
- 2,214der Zweifeldoubt(s)
- 2,215ländlichenrural (inflected)
- 2,216das Verhältnisrelationship; ratio, proportion
In these word lists
- The 5,000 most common German words#2,212
- The most common German nouns#910
- German A1 vocabulary#557
- The most common German masculine nouns (der)#240
Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.