tacvstesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,239
“tac” frequency rank
#44,969
“tes” frequency rank
85208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tac tes
Definition der Dübel (Fischerdübel nach dem Erfinder Artur Fischer), der Zapfen Plural des Substantivs te

Where the eye mixes tac and tes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. tac and tes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
tac
3 ch
tes

Look-alike desk: tac vs tes

A purely visual mix-up. tac ([tak]) and tes ([tɛs]) 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 85208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tac is recorded at frequency rank #40,239, classified as anoun, pronounced [tak]. tes is at rank #44,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɛs].

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 85208, this pair ranks #111,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tac vs tes

Shared letters: t. Private to "tac": ac. Private to "tes": es.

"tac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tac" for "tes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([tak] versus [tɛs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tac" or "tes"?
"tac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,239 in our German list, against #44,969 for "tes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tac" and "tes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tac" and "tes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes vs trees". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #111,717 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