Which to use
“zäh” and “zäher” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,775
- “zäh” frequency rank
- #40,351
- “zäher” frequency rank
- 59126
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zäh | zäher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | langsam, schwerfällig fließend | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh |
Where the eye mixes zäh and zäher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. zäh runs 3 letters (CVC) against zäher's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses zäh with zäher
A purely visual mix-up. zäh ([t͡sɛː]) and zäher ([ˈt͡sɛːɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “zäh” sits inside “zäher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zäh is recorded at frequency rank #18,775, classified as anadj, pronounced [t͡sɛː]. zäher is at rank #40,351, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːɐ].
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 59126, this pair ranks #836,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of zäh vs zäher
Shared letters: hzä. Private to "zäh": -. Private to "zäher": er.
"zäh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "zäher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zäh" and "zäher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "zäh" or "zäher" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "zäh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zäher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #836,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zäh" and "zäher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zäher vs Zählern". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #836,290 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.