Which to use
“zeige” and “zeugte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,400
- “zeige” frequency rank
- #47,147
- “zeugte” frequency rank
- 51547
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zeige | zeugte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zeigen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs zeugen |
Where the eye mixes zeige and zeugte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zeige runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against zeugte's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between zeige and zeugte
A purely visual mix-up. zeige ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡə]) and zeugte ([ˈt͡sɔɪ̯ktə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51547, 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]. zeugte is at rank #47,147, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɔɪ̯ktə].
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 51547, this pair ranks #1,131,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of zeige vs zeugte
Shared letters: egz. Private to "zeige": i. Private to "zeugte": tu.
"zeige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "zeugte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zeige" for "zeugte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "zeige" or "zeugte"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zeige" and "zeugte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zeige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zeugte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,131,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zeige" and "zeugte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zeugs 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
Confusion rank #1,131,298 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.