Which to use
“ze” is a pronoun and “Zehe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,459
- “ze” frequency rank
- #43,650
- “Zehe” frequency rank
- 63109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ze | Zehe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unbetonte Form des Personalpronomens zij (Subjektform der dritten Person Singular Femininum): sie | der einem Finger entsprechende Teil des Fußes |
Where the eye mixes ze and Zehe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ze runs 2 letters (CV) against Zehe's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ze and Zehe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ze is [zə] while Zehe is [ˈt͡seːə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ze” sits inside “Zehe”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ze is recorded at frequency rank #19,459, classified as apron, pronounced [zə]. Zehe is at rank #43,650, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡seːə].
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 63109, this pair ranks #688,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ze vs Zehe
Shared letters: ez. Private to "ze": -. Private to "Zehe": h.
"ze" · 2 letters · shape CV · "Zehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Zehe ← ezhe · zeeh · zehhe · zhee · zzehe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ze" for "Zehe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ze" vs "Zehe" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Zehe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #688,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ze" and "Zehe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zechen vs Zehe". 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 #688,469 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.