tacvstilWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#40,239
“tac” frequency rank
#14,951
“til” frequency rank
55190
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tac til
Definition der Dübel (Fischerdübel nach dem Erfinder Artur Fischer), der Zapfen überdeckender Flechtenbewuchs auf einem Stein oder Felsen

Where the eye mixes tac and til

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tac
3 ch
til

Visual trap between tac and til

A purely visual mix-up. tac ([tak]) and til ([tiːl]) 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 55190, 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]. til is at rank #14,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tiːl].

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 55190, this pair ranks #989,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tac vs til

Shared letters: t. Private to "tac": ac. Private to "til": il.

"tac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "til" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tac" and "til" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([tak] versus [tiːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tac" vs "til" - which ranks higher?
"til" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,951 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "til" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #989,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tac" and "til" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tac vs taut". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #989,215 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