runningvstabsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,470
“running” frequency rank
#31,815
“tabs” frequency rank
47285
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature running tabs
Definition Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs run 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tab

Letter map: running vs tabs

Shared letters muted; letters that set running and tabs apart highlighted. No shared letter run. running runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against tabs's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
running
4 ch
tabs

Pair insight - running / tabs

running and tabs are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

running is recorded at frequency rank #15,470, classified as averb, pronounced […]. tabs is at rank #31,815, tagged as averb, 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 47285, this pair ranks #1,289,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of running vs tabs

Shared letters: none. Private to "running": ginru. Private to "tabs": abst.

"running" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "tabs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • runningrnuning · rrunning · runing · runinng · runnign · runningg · runninng · runnnig
  • tabsatbs · tabbs · tabss · tasb · tbas · ttabs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "running" for "tabs" ever safe?
No. They differ by 3 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "running" vs "tabs" - which ranks higher?
"running" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,470 in our German list, against #31,815 for "tabs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "running" vs "tabs" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "running" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tabs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,289,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "running" and "tabs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs tabs". 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 #1,289,724 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