ZebravszebrasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Zebra” and “zebras” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,141
“Zebra” frequency rank
#38,533
“zebras” frequency rank
65674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Zebra zebras
Definition ein in Afrika beheimatetes, zur Gattung der Pferde (Equidae) gehörendes, wildlebendes Huftier (Hippotigris), dessen Fell einen – je nach Art / Unterart – weißlichen bis hellbraunen Grundton mit bräunlichen bis schwarzen Querstreifen aufweist Plural des Substantivs zebra

Where the eye mixes Zebra and zebras

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

5 ch
Zebra
6 ch
zebras

Visual trap between Zebra and zebras

A purely visual mix-up. Zebra ([ˈt͡seːbʁa]) and zebras ([ˈzɛbrəs]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Zebra” sits inside “zebras”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zebra is recorded at frequency rank #27,141, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡seːbʁa]. zebras is at rank #38,533, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛbrəs].

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 65674, this pair ranks #598,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Zebra vs zebras

Shared letters: aberz. Private to "Zebra": -. Private to "zebras": s.

"Zebra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "zebras" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zebra ← ezbra · zbera · zebar · zebbra · zebrra · zerba · zzebra
  • zebras ← ezbras · zberas · zebars · zebbras · zebrass · zebrras · zebrsa · zerbas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Zebra" for "zebras" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡seːbʁa] versus [ˈzɛbrəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Zebra" vs "zebras" - which ranks higher?
"Zebra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,141 in our German list, against #38,533 for "zebras". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Zebra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zebras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #598,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Zebra" and "zebras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zebra vs zerrt". 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 #598,878 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