Which to use
“zweifelte” and “zweifle” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,394
- “zweifelte” frequency rank
- #21,860
- “zweifle” frequency rank
- 66254
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zweifelte | zweifle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs zweifeln | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zweifeln |
Where the eye mixes zweifelte and zweifle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. zweifelte runs 9 letters (CCVVCVCCV) against zweifle's 7 (CCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between zweifelte and zweifle
A purely visual mix-up. zweifelte ([ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩tə]) and zweifle ([ˈt͡svaɪ̯flə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zweifelte is recorded at frequency rank #44,394, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩tə]. 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 66254, this pair ranks #579,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of zweifelte vs zweifle
Shared letters: efilwz. Private to "zweifelte": t. Private to "zweifle": -.
"zweifelte" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCCV · "zweifle" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zweifelte" and "zweifle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "zweifelte" or "zweifle" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "zweifelte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zweifle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #579,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zweifelte" and "zweifle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zweifelt vs zweifelte". 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 #579,365 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.