Which to use
“zergehen” and “zerlegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,418
- “zergehen” frequency rank
- #21,132
- “zerlegen” frequency rank
- 67550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zergehen | zerlegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vom festen in den flüssigen Zustand übergehen | etwas in seine Komponenten aufteilen, in seine Einzelteile auflösen |
Where the eye mixes zergehen and zerlegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zergehen and zerlegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses zergehen with zerlegen
A purely visual mix-up. zergehen ([t͡sɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]) and zerlegen ([ˌt͡sɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zergehen is recorded at frequency rank #46,418, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]. zerlegen is at rank #21,132, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌt͡sɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩].
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 67550, this pair ranks #536,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of zergehen vs zerlegen
Shared letters: egnrz. Private to "zergehen": h. Private to "zerlegen": l.
"zergehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "zerlegen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zergehen" for "zerlegen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "zergehen" or "zerlegen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zergehen" and "zerlegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zergehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zerlegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #536,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zergehen" and "zerlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zerlegen vs Zerlegung". 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 #536,478 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.