Which to use
“zuweilen” is an adverb and “zweiten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,294
- “zuweilen” frequency rank
- #424
- “zweiten” frequency rank
- 13718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zuweilen | zweiten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zu bestimmten Zeiten, aber nicht regelmäßig; für eine Weile und später wieder für eine Weile | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs zweite |
Where the eye mixes zuweilen and zweiten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zuweilen runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against zweiten's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between zuweilen and zweiten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zuweilen is [t͡suˈvaɪ̯lən] while zweiten is [ˈt͡svaɪ̯tn̩]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zuweilen is recorded at frequency rank #13,294, classified as anadv, pronounced [t͡suˈvaɪ̯lən]. zweiten is at rank #424, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡svaɪ̯tn̩].
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 13718, this pair ranks #1,956,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of zuweilen vs zweiten
Shared letters: einwz. Private to "zuweilen": lu. Private to "zweiten": t.
"zuweilen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "zweiten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zuweilen" for "zweiten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "zuweilen" or "zweiten"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zuweilen" and "zweiten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zuweilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zweiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,956,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zuweilen" and "zweiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zuweilen vs zuweisen". 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 #1,956,182 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.