zeigevszeigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,400
“zeige” frequency rank
#448
“zeigen” frequency rank
4848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeige zeigen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zeigen jemanden etwas sehen lassen

Where the eye mixes zeige and zeigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
zeige
6 ch
zeigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. zeige ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡə]) and zeigen ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]) 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) - “zeige” sits inside “zeigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zeige is recorded at frequency rank #4,400, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡə]. zeigen is at rank #448, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩].

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 4848, this pair ranks #1,996,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeige vs zeigen

Shared letters: egiz. Private to "zeige": -. Private to "zeigen": n.

"zeige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "zeigen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zeigeezige · zegie · zeieg · zeigge · zzeige
  • zeigenezigen · zegien · zeiegn · zeigenn · zeiggen · zeigne · zzeigen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zeige" and "zeigen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡə] versus [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zeige" or "zeigen"?
"zeigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #448 in our German list, against #4,400 for "zeige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "zeige" and "zeigen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zeige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zeigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,996,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeige" and "zeigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zeige vs zeugte". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list