zogenvszollenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,401
“zogen” frequency rank
#30,883
“zollen” frequency rank
35284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zogen zollen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ziehen etwas erweisen

Where the eye mixes zogen and zollen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zogen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against zollen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
zogen
6 ch
zollen

Visual trap between zogen and zollen

A purely visual mix-up. zogen ([ˈt͡soːɡn̩]) and zollen ([ˈt͡sɔlən]) 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 35284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zogen is recorded at frequency rank #4,401, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡soːɡn̩]. zollen is at rank #30,883, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɔlən].

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 35284, this pair ranks #1,643,601 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zogen vs zollen

Shared letters: enoz. Private to "zogen": g. Private to "zollen": l.

"zogen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "zollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zogen ← ozgen · zgoen · zoegn · zogenn · zoggen · zogne · zzogen
  • zollen ← ozllen · zlolen · zoleln · zolen · zollenn · zollne · zzollen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "zogen" for "zollen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡soːɡn̩] versus [ˈt͡sɔlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "zogen" vs "zollen" - which ranks higher?
"zogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,401 in our German list, against #30,883 for "zollen". 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 "zogen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,643,601 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zogen" and "zollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zollen vs Zyklen". 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 #1,643,601 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