Which to use
“Zweifel” is a noun and “zweifle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,868
- “Zweifel” frequency rank
- #21,860
- “zweifle” frequency rank
- 23728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Zweifel | zweifle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | inneres Schwanken; Unsicherheit in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Taten, Entscheidungen, Glauben oder Behauptungen beziehungsweise Vermutung von Tatsachen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zweifeln |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Zweifel and zweifle apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Zweifel and zweifle form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (el ↔ le) - a transposition the eye reads straight past - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Zweifel is recorded at frequency rank #1,868, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩]. zweifle is at rank #21,860, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡svaɪ̯flə].
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 23728, this pair ranks #1,857,382 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Zweifel" and "zweifle" be used interchangeably?
Remembering Zweifel vs zweifle
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Zweifel”; for a verb, it's “zweifle”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Zweifel” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable