TanksvstapesConfusable pair

Quick tell: Tanks is a noun, tapes is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Tanks” is a noun and “tapes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,404
“Tanks” frequency rank
#41,496
“tapes” frequency rank
59900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tanks tapes
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tank 2. Person Singular Präsens Konjunktiv des Verbs tapar

Letter map: Tanks vs tapes

Shared letters muted; letters that set Tanks and tapes apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
Tanks
5 ch
tapes

Role in the sentence - Tanks and tapes

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Tanks is anoun and tapesaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tanks is recorded at frequency rank #18,404, classified as anoun, pronounced [taŋks]. tapes is at rank #41,496, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 59900, this pair ranks #807,116 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tanks vs tapes

Shared letters: ast. Private to "Tanks": kn. Private to "tapes": ep.

"Tanks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "tapes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tanksatnks · takns · tankks · tankss · tannks · tansk · tnaks · ttanks
  • tapesatpes · taeps · tapess · tappes · tapse · tpaes · ttapes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tanks" for "tapes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tanks" is a noun and "tapes" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Tanks" vs "tapes" - which ranks higher?
"Tanks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,404 in our German list, against #41,496 for "tapes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Tanks" and "tapes".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tapes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #807,116 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tanks" and "tapes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs tapes". 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 #807,116 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