zeigenvsZeileWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#448
“zeigen” frequency rank
#7,551
“Zeile” frequency rank
7999
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeigen Zeile
Definition jemanden etwas sehen lassen horizontale Aneinanderreihung gleichartiger Objekte, etwa die in links-Rechts-Richtung liegenden Einteilungen von Text oder Daten

Where the eye mixes zeigen and Zeile

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
zeigen
5 ch
Zeile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zeigen is [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩] while Zeile is [ˈt͡saɪ̯lə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zeigen is recorded at frequency rank #448, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]. Zeile is at rank #7,551, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯lə].

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 7999, this pair ranks #1,986,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeigen vs Zeile

Shared letters: eiz. Private to "zeigen": gn. Private to "Zeile": l.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zeigenezigen · zegien · zeiegn · zeigenn · zeiggen · zeigne · zzeigen
  • Zeileezile · zeiel · zeille · zelie · zzeile

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zeigen" and "Zeile" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "zeigen" is a verb and "Zeile" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "zeigen" or "Zeile"?
"zeigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #448 in our German list, against #7,551 for "Zeile". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "zeigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,986,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeigen" and "Zeile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zehe vs Zeile". 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