Which to use
“ziehen” and “zugehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #771
- “ziehen” frequency rank
- #16,335
- “zugehen” frequency rank
- 17106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ziehen | zugehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit Anwendung von Kraft hinter sich her oder auf sich zu bewegen | in die Richtung von jemandem oder etwas gehen |
Where the eye mixes ziehen and zugehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ziehen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against zugehen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ziehen vs zugehen
A purely visual mix-up. ziehen ([ˈt͡siːən]) and zugehen ([ˈt͡suːˌɡeːən]) 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 17106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ziehen is recorded at frequency rank #771, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡siːən]. zugehen is at rank #16,335, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌɡeːən].
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 17106, this pair ranks #1,930,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ziehen vs zugehen
Shared letters: ehnz. Private to "ziehen": i. Private to "zugehen": gu.
"ziehen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "zugehen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ziehen" for "zugehen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ziehen" or "zugehen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ziehen" and "zugehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ziehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zugehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ziehen" and "zugehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zugehen vs zugetan". 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 #1,930,315 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.