TangovsTankeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,957
“Tango” frequency rank
#32,305
“Tanke” frequency rank
46262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tango Tanke
Definition ein aus Südamerika stammender Tanz mit starkem Rhythmus und Körperkontakt Tankstelle

Where the eye mixes Tango and Tanke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Tango
5 ch
Tanke

Visual trap between Tango and Tanke

A purely visual mix-up. Tango ([ˈtaŋɡo]) and Tanke ([ˈtaŋkə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tango is recorded at frequency rank #13,957, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaŋɡo]. 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 46262, this pair ranks #1,325,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tango vs Tanke

Shared letters: ant. Private to "Tango": go. Private to "Tanke": ek.

"Tango" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Tanke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tangoatngo · tagno · tanggo · tanngo · tanog · tnago · ttango
  • Tankeatnke · takne · tanek · tankke · tannke · tnake · ttanke

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tango" and "Tanke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaŋɡo] versus [ˈtaŋkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Tango" vs "Tanke" - which ranks higher?
"Tango" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,957 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.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tango" 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 #1,325,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tango" 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 #1,325,157 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