zwingenvszwingtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,051
“zwingen” frequency rank
#7,703
“zwingt” frequency rank
12754
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zwingen zwingt
Definition mit Druck/Gewalt zu etwas bringen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zwingen

Where the eye mixes zwingen and zwingt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. zwingen runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against zwingt's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
zwingen
6 ch
zwingt

Visual trap between zwingen and zwingt

A purely visual mix-up. zwingen ([ˈt͡svɪŋən]) and zwingt ([t͡svɪŋt]) 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 12754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zwingen is recorded at frequency rank #5,051, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡svɪŋən]. zwingt is at rank #7,703, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡svɪŋt].

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 12754, this pair ranks #1,962,241 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zwingen vs zwingt

Shared letters: ginwz. Private to "zwingen": e. Private to "zwingt": t.

"zwingen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "zwingt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zwingenwzingen · ziwngen · zwignen · zwinegn · zwingenn · zwinggen · zwingne · zwinngen
  • zwingtwzingt · ziwngt · zwignt · zwinggt · zwingtt · zwinngt · zwintg · zwnigt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zwingen" and "zwingt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡svɪŋən] versus [t͡svɪŋt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "zwingen" or "zwingt" show up more?
"zwingen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,051 in our German list, against #7,703 for "zwingt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zwingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zwingt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,241 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zwingen" and "zwingt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zwingt vs Zwist". 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 #1,962,241 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