readingvstestsTell them apart

Quick tell: reading is a verb, tests is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reading” is a verb and “tests” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,379
“reading” frequency rank
#3,854
“tests” frequency rank
24233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reading tests
Definition Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs read Plural des Substantivs test

Letter map: reading vs tests

Shared letters muted; letters that set reading and tests apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

7 ch
reading
5 ch
tests

Grammar separator: reading vs tests

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: reading is averb and testsanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reading is recorded at frequency rank #20,379, classified as averb, pronounced […]. tests is at rank #3,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 24233, this pair ranks #1,850,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reading vs tests

Shared letters: e. Private to "reading": adginr. Private to "tests": st.

"reading" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "tests" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • readingerading · raeding · readding · readign · readingg · readinng · readnig · reaidng
  • testsetsts · tessts · testss · testts · tetss · ttests

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "reading" for "tests" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reading" is a verb and "tests" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reading" or "tests"?
"tests" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,854 in our German list, against #20,379 for "reading". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "reading" and "tests". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reading" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tests" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,850,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reading" and "tests" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs reading". 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 #1,850,565 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