ZehevsziehenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#43,650
“Zehe” frequency rank
#771
“ziehen” frequency rank
44421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Zehe ziehen
Definition der einem Finger entsprechende Teil des Fußes mit Anwendung von Kraft hinter sich her oder auf sich zu bewegen

Where the eye mixes Zehe and ziehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Zehe runs 4 letters (CVCV) against ziehen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Zehe
6 ch
ziehen

Visual trap between Zehe and ziehen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Zehe is [ˈt͡seːə] while ziehen is [ˈt͡siːən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zehe is recorded at frequency rank #43,650, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡seːə]. ziehen is at rank #771, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡siːən].

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 44421, this pair ranks #1,386,721 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Zehe vs ziehen

Shared letters: ehz. Private to "Zehe": -. Private to "ziehen": in.

"Zehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "ziehen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zehe ← ezhe · zeeh · zehhe · zhee · zzehe
  • ziehen ← izehen · zeihen · zieehn · ziehenn · ziehhen · ziehne · ziheen · zziehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Zehe" and "ziehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Zehe" is a noun and "ziehen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Zehe" or "ziehen"?
"ziehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #771 in our German list, against #43,650 for "Zehe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Zehe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ziehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,386,721 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Zehe" and "ziehen" 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 #1,386,721 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