blitzevsblitzenConfusable pair

Which to use

“blitze” and “blitzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,866
“blitze” frequency rank
#26,337
“blitzen” frequency rank
50203
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blitze blitzen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs blitzen sich durch die Luft unter Lichtentstehung (elektrisch) entladen

Where the eye mixes blitze and blitzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
blitze
7 ch
blitzen

Why the eye confuses blitze with blitzen

A purely visual mix-up. blitze ([ˈblɪt͡sə]) and blitzen ([ˈblɪt͡sn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “blitze” sits inside “blitzen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blitze is recorded at frequency rank #23,866, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪt͡sə]. blitzen is at rank #26,337, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪt͡sn̩].

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 50203, this pair ranks #1,182,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of blitze vs blitzen

Shared letters: beiltz. Private to "blitze": -. Private to "blitzen": n.

"blitze" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "blitzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blitzebblitze · biltze · blitez · blittze · blitzze · blizte · bllitze · bltize
  • blitzenbblitzen · biltzen · blitezn · blittzen · blitzenn · blitzne · blitzzen · blizten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "blitze" and "blitzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈblɪt͡sə] versus [ˈblɪt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "blitze" or "blitzen"?
"blitze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,866 in our German list, against #26,337 for "blitzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "blitze" and "blitzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "blitze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "blitzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,182,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blitze" and "blitzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Batzen vs blitzen". 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 #1,182,680 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list