zustehenvszustehtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,887
“zustehen” frequency rank
#18,136
“zusteht” frequency rank
48023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zustehen zusteht
Definition rechtmäßig gehören, rechtmäßig gegeben werden müssen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs zustehen

Where the eye mixes zustehen and zusteht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zustehen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against zusteht's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
zustehen
7 ch
zusteht

Visual trap between zustehen and zusteht

A purely visual mix-up. zustehen ([ˈt͡suːˌʃteːən]) and zusteht ([ˈt͡suːˌʃteːt]) 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 48023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zustehen is recorded at frequency rank #29,887, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌʃteːən]. zusteht is at rank #18,136, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌʃteːt].

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 48023, this pair ranks #1,263,605 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zustehen vs zusteht

Shared letters: ehstuz. Private to "zustehen": n. Private to "zusteht": -.

"zustehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "zusteht" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zustehenuzstehen · zsutehen · zusethen · zusstehen · zusteehn · zustehenn · zustehhen · zustehne
  • zustehtuzsteht · zsuteht · zusetht · zussteht · zustehht · zustehtt · zusteth · zusthet

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zustehen" and "zusteht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡suːˌʃteːən] versus [ˈt͡suːˌʃteːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "zustehen" or "zusteht" show up more?
"zusteht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,136 in our German list, against #29,887 for "zustehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "zustehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zusteht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,263,605 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zustehen" and "zusteht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zuseher vs zustehen". 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 #1,263,605 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