Which to use
“taken” and “takes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,860
- “taken” frequency rank
- #30,805
- “takes” frequency rank
- 73665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taken | takes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tak | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tak |
Where the eye mixes taken and takes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. taken and takes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: taken vs takes
A purely visual mix-up. taken ([ˈtakn̩]) and takes ([ˈtakəs]) 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 a single letter - n in “taken” becomes s in “takes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
taken is recorded at frequency rank #42,860, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtakn̩]. takes is at rank #30,805, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtakəs].
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 73665, this pair ranks #354,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of taken vs takes
Shared letters: aekt. Private to "taken": n. Private to "takes": s.
"taken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "takes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "taken" for "takes" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "taken" or "takes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "taken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "takes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "taken" and "takes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taken vs taking". 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 #354,172 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.