TabusvstakesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Tabus is a noun, takes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Tabus” is a noun and “takes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,359
“Tabus” frequency rank
#30,805
“takes” frequency rank
60164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tabus takes
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tabu Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tak

Where the eye mixes Tabus and takes

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

5 ch
Tabus
5 ch
takes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tabus is [taˈbuːs] while takes is [ˈtakəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tabus is recorded at frequency rank #29,359, classified as anoun, pronounced [taˈbuːs]. takes is at rank #30,805, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtakəs].

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 60164, this pair ranks #797,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tabus vs takes

Shared letters: ast. Private to "Tabus": bu. Private to "takes": ek.

"Tabus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "takes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tabusatbus · tabbus · tabsu · tabuss · taubs · tbaus · ttabus
  • takesatkes · taeks · takess · takkes · takse · tkaes · ttakes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Tabus" and "takes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tabus" is a noun and "takes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Tabus" or "takes"?
"Tabus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,359 in our German list, against #30,805 for "takes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list