TadelvsTatenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,313
“Tadel” frequency rank
#2,858
“Taten” frequency rank
49171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tadel Taten
Definition Erziehungsmaßnahme mit verhaltenskorrigierender Funktion Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tat

Where the eye mixes Tadel and Taten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Tadel and Taten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Tadel
5 ch
Taten

Why the eye confuses Tadel with Taten

A purely visual mix-up. Tadel ([ˈtaːdl̩]) and Taten ([ˈtaːtn̩]) 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 49171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tadel is recorded at frequency rank #46,313, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaːdl̩]. Taten is at rank #2,858, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaːtn̩].

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 49171, this pair ranks #1,221,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tadel vs Taten

Shared letters: aet. Private to "Tadel": dl. Private to "Taten": n.

"Tadel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Taten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tadel ← atdel · taddel · tadell · tadle · taedl · tdael · ttadel
  • Taten ← atten · taetn · tatenn · tatne · tatten · ttaen · ttaten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tadel" and "Taten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaːdl̩] versus [ˈtaːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Tadel" vs "Taten" - which ranks higher?
"Taten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,858 in our German list, against #46,313 for "Tadel". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tadel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Taten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,221,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tadel" and "Taten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tadel vs tall". 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 #1,221,487 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