Which to use
“zuhalten” is a verb and “zulasten” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,970
- “zuhalten” frequency rank
- #45,067
- “zulasten” frequency rank
- 88037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zuhalten | zulasten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dafür sorgen, dass etwas geschlossen bleibt | jemandem zum Nachteil |
Where the eye mixes zuhalten and zulasten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zuhalten and zulasten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between zuhalten and zulasten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zuhalten is [ˈt͡suːˌhaltn̩] while zulasten is [t͡suˈlastn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zuhalten is recorded at frequency rank #42,970, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌhaltn̩]. zulasten is at rank #45,067, tagged as aprep, pronounced [t͡suˈlastn̩].
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 88037, this pair ranks #73,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of zuhalten vs zulasten
Shared letters: aelntuz. Private to "zuhalten": h. Private to "zulasten": s.
"zuhalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "zulasten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zuhalten" for "zulasten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "zuhalten" or "zulasten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "zuhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zulasten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zuhalten" and "zulasten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zulagen vs zulasten". 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 #73,077 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.