zechenvsZeitenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#48,646
“zechen” frequency rank
#872
“Zeiten” frequency rank
49518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zechen Zeiten
Definition (meist in der Gruppe) übermäßig viel Alkohol trinken Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Zeit

Where the eye mixes zechen and Zeiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zechen (CVCCVC) and Zeiten (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
zechen
6 ch
Zeiten

Visual trap between zechen and Zeiten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zechen is [ˈt͡sɛçn̩] while Zeiten is [ˈt͡saɪ̯tən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zechen is recorded at frequency rank #48,646, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛçn̩]. Zeiten is at rank #872, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯tən].

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 49518, this pair ranks #1,208,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zechen vs Zeiten

Shared letters: enz. Private to "zechen": ch. Private to "Zeiten": it.

"zechen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Zeiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zechen ← ezchen · zcehen · zecchen · zecehn · zechenn · zechhen · zechne · zehcen
  • Zeiten ← eziten · zeietn · zeitenn · zeitne · zeitten · zetien · zieten · zzeiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zechen" and "Zeiten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "zechen" is a verb and "Zeiten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "zechen" vs "Zeiten" - which ranks higher?
"Zeiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #872 in our German list, against #48,646 for "zechen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,208,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zechen" and "Zeiten" 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 #1,208,500 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