TagevsTauConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#371
“Tage” frequency rank
#21,445
“Tau” frequency rank
21816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tage Tau
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Tag Niederschlag, durch Abkühlung (in Bodennähe) kondensierter Wasserdampf

Where the eye mixes Tage and Tau

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

4 ch
Tage
3 ch
Tau

Look-alike desk: Tage vs Tau

A purely visual mix-up. Tage ([ˈtaːɡə]) and Tau ([taʊ̯]) 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 21816, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tage is recorded at frequency rank #371, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaːɡə]. Tau is at rank #21,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced [taʊ̯].

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 21816, this pair ranks #1,881,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tage vs Tau

Shared letters: at. Private to "Tage": eg. Private to "Tau": u.

"Tage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Tau" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tageatge · taeg · tagge · tgae · ttage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tage" for "Tau" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaːɡə] versus [taʊ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Tage" or "Tau" show up more?
"Tage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #371 in our German list, against #21,445 for "Tau". 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 "Tage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,881,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tage" and "Tau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tau 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 #1,881,815 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