Which to use
“zähe” is an adjective and “Zahn” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,398
- “zähe” frequency rank
- #7,428
- “Zahn” frequency rank
- 51826
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zähe | Zahn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh | Teil des Gebisses von Menschen und Wirbeltieren |
Where the eye mixes zähe and Zahn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. zähe (CVCV) and Zahn (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between zähe and Zahn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zähe is [ˈt͡sɛːə] while Zahn is [t͡saːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zähe is recorded at frequency rank #44,398, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːə]. Zahn is at rank #7,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡saːn].
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 51826, this pair ranks #1,120,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of zähe vs Zahn
Shared letters: hz. Private to "zähe": eä. Private to "Zahn": an.
"zähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Zahn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Zahn ← azhn · zahhn · zahnn · zanh · zhan · zzahn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zähe" for "Zahn" ever safe?
Frequency check: "zähe" vs "Zahn" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "zähe" and "Zahn" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zähe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Zahn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,120,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zähe" and "Zahn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zähe vs zapf". 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 #1,120,550 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.