ziehevsziehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,030
“ziehe” frequency rank
#771
“ziehen” frequency rank
6801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ziehe ziehen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ziehen mit Anwendung von Kraft hinter sich her oder auf sich zu bewegen

Where the eye mixes ziehe and ziehen

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

5 ch
ziehe
6 ch
ziehen

Look-alike desk: ziehe vs ziehen

A purely visual mix-up. ziehe ([ˈt͡siːə]) and ziehen ([ˈt͡siːən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “ziehe” sits inside “ziehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ziehe is recorded at frequency rank #6,030, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡siːə]. ziehen is at rank #771, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡siːən].

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 6801, this pair ranks #1,990,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ziehe vs ziehen

Shared letters: ehiz. Private to "ziehe": -. Private to "ziehen": n.

"ziehe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "ziehen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zieheizehe · zeihe · zieeh · ziehhe · zihee · zziehe
  • ziehenizehen · zeihen · zieehn · ziehenn · ziehhen · ziehne · ziheen · zziehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ziehe" and "ziehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡siːə] versus [ˈt͡siːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ziehe" or "ziehen"?
"ziehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #771 in our German list, against #6,030 for "ziehe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ziehe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ziehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ziehe" and "ziehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zähe vs ziehe". 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 #1,990,407 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