zeigenvsZellenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#448
“zeigen” frequency rank
#4,850
“Zellen” frequency rank
5298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeigen Zellen
Definition jemanden etwas sehen lassen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Zelle

Where the eye mixes zeigen and Zellen

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

6 ch
zeigen
6 ch
Zellen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zeigen is [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩] while Zellen is [ˈt͡sɛlən]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zeigen is recorded at frequency rank #448, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯ɡn̩]. Zellen is at rank #4,850, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛlən].

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 5298, this pair ranks #1,995,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeigen vs Zellen

Shared letters: enz. Private to "zeigen": gi. Private to "Zellen": l.

"zeigen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Zellen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zeigenezigen · zegien · zeiegn · zeigenn · zeiggen · zeigne · zzeigen
  • Zellenezllen · zeleln · zelen · zellenn · zellne · zlelen · zzellen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zeigen" and "Zellen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "zeigen" is a verb and "Zellen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "zeigen" or "Zellen"?
"zeigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #448 in our German list, against #4,850 for "Zellen". 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 "Zellen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zeigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zellen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,995,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeigen" and "Zellen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zechen vs Zellen". 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