Which to use
“Zahl” is a noun and “zahm” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #730
- “Zahl” frequency rank
- #43,648
- “zahm” frequency rank
- 44378
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Zahl | zahm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | numerischer Wert, Quantität (das Wieviel) | an den Kontakt mit Menschen gewöhnt, friedlich gegenüber Menschen, dem Menschen trauend |
Where the eye mixes Zahl and zahm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Zahl and zahm follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Zahl with zahm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Zahl is [t͡saːl] while zahm is [t͡saːm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Zahl” becomes m in “zahm”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44378, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Zahl is recorded at frequency rank #730, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡saːl]. zahm is at rank #43,648, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t͡saːm].
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 44378, this pair ranks #1,388,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Zahl vs zahm
Shared letters: ahz. Private to "Zahl": l. Private to "zahm": m.
"Zahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "zahm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Zahl" and "zahm" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Zahl" vs "zahm" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Zahl" and "zahm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Zahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zahm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,388,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Zahl" and "zahm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zahm 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 #1,388,071 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.