tacvsThanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#40,239
“tac” frequency rank
#13,037
“Than” frequency rank
53276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tac Than
Definition der Dübel (Fischerdübel nach dem Erfinder Artur Fischer), der Zapfen Gefolgsmann des Königs oder eines Fürsten bei den Angelsachsen; seit dem 10. Jahrhundert erblicher Großgrundbesitzer

Where the eye mixes tac and Than

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
tac
4 ch
Than

Look-alike desk: tac vs Than

A purely visual mix-up. tac ([tak]) and Than ([taːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53276, 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]. Than is at rank #13,037, tagged as anoun, pronounced [taːn].

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 53276, this pair ranks #1,064,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tac vs Than

Shared letters: at. Private to "tac": c. Private to "Than": hn.

"tac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Than" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Thanhtan · tahn · thann · thhan · thna · tthan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tac" and "Than" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([tak] versus [taːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tac" or "Than"?
"Than" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,037 in our German list, against #40,239 for "tac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "tac" and "Than" 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 "Than" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,064,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tac" and "Than" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tac 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 #1,064,338 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