zähevszartWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,398
“zähe” frequency rank
#13,283
“zart” frequency rank
57681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zähe zart
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh wenig robust/widerstandsfähig

Where the eye mixes zähe and zart

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. zähe (CVCV) and zart (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
zähe
4 ch
zart

Look-alike desk: zähe vs zart

A purely visual mix-up. zähe ([ˈt͡sɛːə]) and zart ([t͡saːɐ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57681, 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]. zart is at rank #13,283, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t͡saːɐ̯t].

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 57681, this pair ranks #891,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zähe vs zart

Shared letters: z. Private to "zähe": ehä. Private to "zart": art.

"zähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "zart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zart ← zarrt · zartt · zatr · zrat · zzart

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zähe" and "zart" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡sɛːə] versus [t͡saːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "zähe" vs "zart" - which ranks higher?
"zart" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,283 in our German list, against #44,398 for "zähe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zähe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zart" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #891,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zähe" and "zart" 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 #891,802 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