Which to use
“zähen” and “zäher” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,326
- “zähen” frequency rank
- #40,351
- “zäher” frequency rank
- 77677
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zähen | zäher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh |
Where the eye mixes zähen and zäher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zähen and zäher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: zähen vs zäher
A purely visual mix-up. zähen ([ˈt͡sɛːən]) 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 a single letter - n in “zähen” becomes r in “zäher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zähen is recorded at frequency rank #37,326, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːən]. 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 77677, this pair ranks #255,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of zähen vs zäher
Shared letters: ehzä. Private to "zähen": n. Private to "zäher": r.
"zähen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "zäher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zähen" and "zäher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "zähen" or "zäher"?
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 "zähen" 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 #255,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zähen" and "zäher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zäher vs Zählern". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #255,409 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.