Which to use
“taken” is an adjective and “taufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,860
- “taken” frequency rank
- #22,165
- “taufen” frequency rank
- 65025
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taken | taufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tak | den Akt der Taufe vollziehen, jemanden damit in die Gemeinde aufnehmen |
Where the eye mixes taken and taufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. taken runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against taufen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: taken vs taufen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: taken is [ˈtakn̩] while taufen is [ˈtaʊ̯fn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65025, 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]. taufen is at rank #22,165, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtaʊ̯fn̩].
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 65025, this pair ranks #621,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of taken vs taufen
Shared letters: aent. Private to "taken": k. Private to "taufen": fu.
"taken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "taufen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "taken" for "taufen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "taken" or "taufen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "taken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "taufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #621,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "taken" and "taufen" 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 #621,105 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.