Which to use
“ze” is a pronoun and “Zeit” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,459
- “ze” frequency rank
- #101
- “Zeit” frequency rank
- 19560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ze | Zeit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unbetonte Form des Personalpronomens zij (Subjektform der dritten Person Singular Femininum): sie | der stetige Ablauf von Zeiteinheiten |
Where the eye mixes ze and Zeit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ze and Zeit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ze is [zə] while Zeit is [t͡saɪ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ze” sits inside “Zeit”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19560, 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]. Zeit is at rank #101, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡saɪ̯t].
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 19560, this pair ranks #1,907,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ze vs Zeit
Shared letters: ez. Private to "ze": -. Private to "Zeit": it.
"ze" · 2 letters · shape CV · "Zeit" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Zeit ← ezit · zeitt · zeti · ziet · zzeit
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ze" for "Zeit" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ze" vs "Zeit" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ze" and "Zeit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Zeit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,907,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ze" and "Zeit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ze vs Zofe". 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 #1,907,064 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.