Which to use
“zollen” is a verb and “Zöllner” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,883
- “zollen” frequency rank
- #25,013
- “Zöllner” frequency rank
- 55896
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zollen | Zöllner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas erweisen | ein Beamter der Zollbehörde |
Where the eye mixes zollen and Zöllner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zollen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Zöllner's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: zollen vs Zöllner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zollen is [ˈt͡sɔlən] while Zöllner is [ˈt͡sœlnɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zollen is recorded at frequency rank #30,883, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɔlən]. Zöllner is at rank #25,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡sœlnɐ].
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 55896, this pair ranks #961,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of zollen vs Zöllner
Shared letters: elnz. Private to "zollen": o. Private to "Zöllner": rö.
"zollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Zöllner" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- zollen ← ozllen · zlolen · zoleln · zolen · zollenn · zollne · zzollen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zollen" for "Zöllner" ever safe?
Which is more common, "zollen" or "Zöllner"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "zollen" and "Zöllner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zollen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Zöllner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #961,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zollen" and "Zöllner" 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 #961,470 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.