zögertvszugehtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,407
“zögert” frequency rank
#21,135
“zugeht” frequency rank
51542
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zögert zugeht
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zögern 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs zugehen

Where the eye mixes zögert and zugeht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zögert and zugeht follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
zögert
6 ch
zugeht

Look-alike desk: zögert vs zugeht

A purely visual mix-up. zögert ([ˈt͡søːɡɐt]) and zugeht ([ˈt͡suːˌɡeːt]) 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 51542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zögert is recorded at frequency rank #30,407, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡søːɡɐt]. zugeht is at rank #21,135, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌɡeːt].

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 51542, this pair ranks #1,131,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zögert vs zugeht

Shared letters: egtz. Private to "zögert": . Private to "zugeht": hu.

"zögert" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "zugeht" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zugehtuzgeht · zgueht · zueght · zugehht · zugehtt · zugeth · zuggeht · zughet

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zögert" and "zugeht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡søːɡɐt] versus [ˈt͡suːˌɡeːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "zögert" vs "zugeht" - which ranks higher?
"zugeht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,135 in our German list, against #30,407 for "zögert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "zögert" and "zugeht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zögert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zugeht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,131,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zögert" and "zugeht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zögert vs zögerte". 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 #1,131,491 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