TafelvsTäuferTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,119
“Tafel” frequency rank
#34,409
“Täufer” frequency rank
39528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tafel Täufer
Definition ein plattenförmiges Stück (oft verwendet als Darreichungsform für Schokolade) jemand, der eine Taufe durchführt

Where the eye mixes Tafel and Täufer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Tafel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Täufer's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Tafel
6 ch
Täufer

Why the eye confuses Tafel with Täufer

A purely visual mix-up. Tafel ([ˈtaːfl̩]) and Täufer ([ˈtɔɪ̯fɐ]) 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 39528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tafel is recorded at frequency rank #5,119, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaːfl̩]. Täufer is at rank #34,409, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɔɪ̯fɐ].

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 39528, this pair ranks #1,534,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tafel vs Täufer

Shared letters: eft. Private to "Tafel": al. Private to "Täufer": ruä.

"Tafel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Täufer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tafel ← atfel · taefl · tafell · taffel · tafle · tfael · ttafel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tafel" for "Täufer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaːfl̩] versus [ˈtɔɪ̯fɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Tafel" or "Täufer" show up more?
"Tafel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,119 in our German list, against #34,409 for "Täufer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tafel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Täufer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,534,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tafel" and "Täufer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Täufer vs Tuner". 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 #1,534,279 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