tablevsTabusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,788
“table” frequency rank
#29,359
“Tabus” frequency rank
51147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature table Tabus
Definition Tisch Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tabu

Where the eye mixes table and Tabus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
table
5 ch
Tabus

Why the eye confuses table with Tabus

A purely visual mix-up. table ([ˈteɪbl]) and Tabus ([taˈbuːs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

table is recorded at frequency rank #21,788, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈteɪbl]. Tabus is at rank #29,359, tagged as anoun, pronounced [taˈbuːs].

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 51147, this pair ranks #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of table vs Tabus

Shared letters: abt. Private to "table": el. Private to "Tabus": su.

"table" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Tabus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tableatble · tabble · tabel · tablle · talbe · tbale · ttable
  • Tabusatbus · tabbus · tabsu · tabuss · taubs · tbaus · ttabus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "table" for "Tabus" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈteɪbl] versus [taˈbuːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "table" or "Tabus"?
"table" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,788 in our German list, against #29,359 for "Tabus". 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 "table" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tabus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "table" and "Tabus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tabus vs taut". 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 #1,146,663 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