zeigtevszeugtTell them apart

Which to use

“zeigte” and “zeugt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,648
“zeigte” frequency rank
#12,422
“zeugt” frequency rank
14070
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeigte zeugt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs zeigen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zeugen

Where the eye mixes zeigte and zeugt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zeigte runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against zeugt's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
zeigte
5 ch
zeugt

Visual trap between zeigte and zeugt

A purely visual mix-up. zeigte ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ktə]) and zeugt ([t͡sɔɪ̯kt]) 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 14070, 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]. zeugt is at rank #12,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡sɔɪ̯kt].

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 14070, this pair ranks #1,953,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeigte vs zeugt

Shared letters: egtz. Private to "zeigte": i. Private to "zeugt": u.

"zeigte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "zeugt" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zeigte ← ezigte · zegite · zeiget · zeiggte · zeigtte · zeitge · ziegte · zzeigte
  • zeugt ← ezugt · zegut · zeuggt · zeugtt · zeutg · zuegt · zzeugt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "zeigte" for "zeugt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡saɪ̯ktə] versus [t͡sɔɪ̯kt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "zeigte" or "zeugt" show up more?
"zeigte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,648 in our German list, against #12,422 for "zeugt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "zeigte" and "zeugt" 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 "zeugt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,953,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeigte" and "zeugt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zeugt 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 #1,953,766 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