Which to use
“tale” and “Tälern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,304
- “tale” frequency rank
- #36,067
- “Tälern” frequency rank
- 68371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tale | Tälern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bericht | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Tal |
Where the eye mixes tale and Tälern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tale runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Tälern's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tale with Tälern
A purely visual mix-up. tale ([ˈteɪl]) and Tälern ([ˈtɛːlɐn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tale is recorded at frequency rank #32,304, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈteɪl]. Tälern is at rank #36,067, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛːlɐn].
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 68371, this pair ranks #509,914 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tale vs Tälern
Shared letters: elt. Private to "tale": a. Private to "Tälern": nrä.
"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Tälern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tale ← tael · talle · tlae · ttale
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tale" and "Tälern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "tale" or "Tälern" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Tälern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #509,914 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tale" and "Tälern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tale 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 #509,914 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.