zeigevsZeitzWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: zeige is a verb, Zeitz is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“zeige” is a verb and “Zeitz” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,400
“zeige” frequency rank
#25,409
“Zeitz” frequency rank
29809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeige Zeitz
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zeigen eine Stadt in Sachsen-Anhalt, Deutschland

Where the eye mixes zeige and Zeitz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. zeige (CVVCV) and Zeitz (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
zeige
5 ch
Zeitz

Why the eye confuses zeige with Zeitz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zeige is [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡə] while Zeitz is [t͡saɪ̯t͡s]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29809, 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]. Zeitz is at rank #25,409, tagged as aname, pronounced [t͡saɪ̯t͡s].

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 29809, this pair ranks #1,759,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeige vs Zeitz

Shared letters: eiz. Private to "zeige": g. Private to "Zeitz": t.

"zeige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Zeitz" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zeige ← ezige · zegie · zeieg · zeigge · zzeige
  • Zeitz ← ezitz · zeittz · zeitzz · zeizt · zetiz · zietz · zzeitz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "zeige" for "Zeitz" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "zeige" is a verb and "Zeitz" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "zeige" vs "Zeitz" - which ranks higher?
"zeige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,400 in our German list, against #25,409 for "Zeitz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "zeige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeitz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,759,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeige" and "Zeitz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zeil vs Zeitz". 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 #1,759,887 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