takesvsTankeTell them apart

Quick tell: takes is a adjective, Tanke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“takes” is an adjective and “Tanke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,805
“takes” frequency rank
#32,305
“Tanke” frequency rank
63110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature takes Tanke
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tak Tankstelle

Where the eye mixes takes and Tanke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. takes (CVCVC) and Tanke (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
takes
5 ch
Tanke

Look-alike desk: takes vs Tanke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: takes is [ˈtakəs] while Tanke is [ˈtaŋkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

takes is recorded at frequency rank #30,805, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtakəs]. Tanke is at rank #32,305, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaŋkə].

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 63110, this pair ranks #688,438 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of takes vs Tanke

Shared letters: aekt. Private to "takes": s. Private to "Tanke": n.

"takes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Tanke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • takes ← atkes · taeks · takess · takkes · takse · tkaes · ttakes
  • Tanke ← atnke · takne · tanek · tankke · tannke · tnake · ttanke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "takes" and "Tanke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "takes" is an adjective and "Tanke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "takes" vs "Tanke" - which ranks higher?
"takes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,805 in our German list, against #32,305 for "Tanke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "takes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #688,438 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "takes" and "Tanke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tanke vs tine". 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 #688,438 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