ZechevsZehenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,470
“Zeche” frequency rank
#12,420
“Zehen” frequency rank
32890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Zeche Zehen
Definition Anlage, um wertvolle Materialien aus der Erde zu gewinnen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Zehe

Where the eye mixes Zeche and Zehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Zeche
5 ch
Zehen

Visual trap between Zeche and Zehen

A purely visual mix-up. Zeche ([ˈt͡sɛçə]) and Zehen ([ˈt͡seːən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zeche is recorded at frequency rank #20,470, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛçə]. Zehen is at rank #12,420, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡seːən].

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 32890, this pair ranks #1,697,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Zeche vs Zehen

Shared letters: ehz. Private to "Zeche": c. Private to "Zehen": n.

"Zeche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Zehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zecheezche · zcehe · zecche · zeceh · zechhe · zehce · zzeche
  • Zehenezhen · zeehn · zehenn · zehhen · zehne · zheen · zzehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Zeche" and "Zehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡sɛçə] versus [ˈt͡seːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Zeche" vs "Zehen" - which ranks higher?
"Zehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,420 in our German list, against #20,470 for "Zeche". 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 "Zeche" and "Zehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,697,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Zeche" and "Zehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zeche vs zechen". 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 #1,697,832 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