Which to use
“zeigte” and “zelte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,648
- “zeigte” frequency rank
- #16,333
- “zelte” frequency rank
- 17981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zeigte | zelte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs zeigen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zelten |
Where the eye mixes zeigte and zelte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zeigte runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against zelte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between zeigte and zelte
A purely visual mix-up. zeigte ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ktə]) and zelte ([ˈt͡sɛltə]) 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 17981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zeigte is recorded at frequency rank #1,648, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯ktə]. zelte is at rank #16,333, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛltə].
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 17981, this pair ranks #1,922,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of zeigte vs zelte
Shared letters: etz. Private to "zeigte": gi. Private to "zelte": l.
"zeigte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "zelte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zeigte" and "zelte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "zeigte" vs "zelte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "zeigte" and "zelte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zeigte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zelte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,922,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zeigte" and "zelte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zelte 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 #1,922,489 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.