Which to use
“za” is a noun and “zähe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,140
- “za” frequency rank
- #44,398
- “zähe” frequency rank
- 71538
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | za | zähe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pizza | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh |
Where the eye mixes za and zähe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. za runs 2 letters (CV) against zähe's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses za with zähe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: za is [zɑː] while zähe is [ˈt͡sɛːə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
za is recorded at frequency rank #27,140, classified as anoun, pronounced [zɑː]. zähe is at rank #44,398, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːə].
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 71538, this pair ranks #413,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of za vs zähe
Shared letters: z. Private to "za": a. Private to "zähe": ehä.
"za" · 2 letters · shape CV · "zähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "za" and "zähe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "za" or "zähe"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "za" and "zähe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "za" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zähe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "za" and "zähe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zähe vs zapf". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #413,907 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.