zeigtenvszweitenConfusable pair

Quick tell: zeigten is a verb, zweiten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“zeigten” is a verb and “zweiten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,089
“zeigten” frequency rank
#424
“zweiten” frequency rank
4513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeigten zweiten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs zeigen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs zweite

Where the eye mixes zeigten and zweiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zeigten (CVVCCVC) and zweiten (CCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
zeigten
7 ch
zweiten

Look-alike desk: zeigten vs zweiten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zeigten is [ˈt͡saɪ̯ktn̩] while zweiten is [ˈt͡svaɪ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zeigten is recorded at frequency rank #4,089, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯ktn̩]. zweiten is at rank #424, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡svaɪ̯tn̩].

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 4513, this pair ranks #1,997,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeigten vs zweiten

Shared letters: eintz. Private to "zeigten": g. Private to "zweiten": w.

"zeigten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "zweiten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zeigten ← ezigten · zegiten · zeigetn · zeiggten · zeigtenn · zeigtne · zeigtten · zeitgen
  • zweiten ← wzeiten · zewiten · zweietn · zweitenn · zweitne · zweitten · zwetien · zwieten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "zeigten" for "zweiten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "zeigten" is a verb and "zweiten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "zeigten" vs "zweiten" - which ranks higher?
"zweiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #424 in our German list, against #4,089 for "zeigten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "zeigten" and "zweiten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zeigten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zweiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,997,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeigten" and "zweiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zeigten 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 #1,997,502 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