TälernvsTäternWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,067
“Tälern” frequency rank
#16,304
“Tätern” frequency rank
52371
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tälern Tätern
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Tal Dativ Plural des Substantivs Täter

Where the eye mixes Tälern and Tätern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Tälern and Tätern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Tälern
6 ch
Tätern

Look-alike desk: Tälern vs Tätern

A purely visual mix-up. Tälern ([ˈtɛːlɐn]) and Tätern ([ˈtɛːtɐn]) 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 - l in “Tälern” becomes t in “Tätern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tälern is recorded at frequency rank #36,067, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛːlɐn]. Tätern is at rank #16,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛːtɐn].

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 52371, this pair ranks #1,099,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tälern vs Tätern

Shared letters: enrtä. Private to "Tälern": l. Private to "Tätern": -.

"Tälern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Tätern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tälern" and "Tätern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtɛːlɐn] versus [ˈtɛːtɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Tälern" or "Tätern" show up more?
"Tätern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,304 in our German list, against #36,067 for "Tälern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tälern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tätern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,099,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tälern" and "Tätern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tälern vs Tellern". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,099,500 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