ZählervszähltWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Zähler is a noun, zählt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Zähler” is a noun and “zählt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,889
“Zähler” frequency rank
#1,499
“zählt” frequency rank
18388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Zähler zählt
Definition Person, die etwas zählt 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zählen

Where the eye mixes Zähler and zählt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Zähler runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against zählt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Zähler
5 ch
zählt

Look-alike desk: Zähler vs zählt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Zähler is [ˈt͡sɛːlɐ] while zählt is [t͡sɛːlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zähler is recorded at frequency rank #16,889, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːlɐ]. zählt is at rank #1,499, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡sɛːlt].

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 18388, this pair ranks #1,918,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Zähler vs zählt

Shared letters: hlzä. Private to "Zähler": er. Private to "zählt": t.

"Zähler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "zählt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Zähler" and "zählt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Zähler" is a noun and "zählt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Zähler" vs "zählt" - which ranks higher?
"zählt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,499 in our German list, against #16,889 for "Zähler". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Zähler" and "zählt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Zähler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zählt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,918,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Zähler" and "zählt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zähler vs Zählern". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,918,716 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