ZielvsZieleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#576
“Ziel” frequency rank
#1,867
“Ziele” frequency rank
2443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ziel Ziele
Definition Ausrichtung oder Endpunkt einer Bestrebung Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Ziel

Where the eye mixes Ziel and Ziele

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Ziel
5 ch
Ziele

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Ziel ([t͡siːl]) and Ziele ([ˈt͡siːlə]) 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) - “Ziel” sits inside “Ziele”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ziel is recorded at frequency rank #576, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡siːl]. Ziele is at rank #1,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡siːlə].

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 2443, this pair ranks #2,002,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ziel vs Ziele

Shared letters: eilz. Private to "Ziel": -. Private to "Ziele": -.

"Ziel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Ziele" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zielizel · ziell · zile · zziel
  • Zieleizele · zieel · zielle · zilee · zziele

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ziel" and "Ziele" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t͡siːl] versus [ˈt͡siːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ziel" or "Ziele"?
"Ziel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #576 in our German list, against #1,867 for "Ziele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Ziel" and "Ziele". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ziel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ziele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ziel" and "Ziele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ziel vs Zobel". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list