zähle
[ˈt͡sɛːlə]
The verdict
“zähle” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #12,847. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #12,847
- frequency rank, German
- 37,643
- “Z” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zählen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zähle |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈt͡sɛːlə] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #12,847 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “zähle” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around zähle (IPA [ˈt͡sɛːlə]), averb. Corpus frequency is #12,847 among 37,643 “Z” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for zähle, with forms such as "zhäle", "zzähle", and "zähel". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Zahn", "zahm", "Zehe", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is zähle, spelled Z-Ä-H-L-E.
Definition
- 11. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zählen
- 21. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zählen
- 33. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zählen
- 42. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zählen
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- zhäle
- zzähle
- zähel
- zähhle
- zählle
- zälhe
- äzhle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of zähle - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "zähle"?
What does "zähle" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "zähle"?
How do you pronounce "zähle"?
What language does "zähle" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “zähle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is Z-Ä-H-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈt͡sɛːlə] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Zahn” - see the side-by-side comparison. zähle vs Zahn
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.