TanksvstaskWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,404
“Tanks” frequency rank
#24,534
“task” frequency rank
42938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tanks task
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tank zu erledigende Arbeit; zugewiesener Auftrag; Problem, das man durch Anstrengung oder Nachdenken zu lösen versucht; Teil einer Übung oder Prüfungsarbeit: Aufgabe

Where the eye mixes Tanks and task

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

5 ch
Tanks
4 ch
task

Why the eye confuses Tanks with task

A purely visual mix-up. Tanks ([taŋks]) and task ([tɑːsk]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42938, 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]. task is at rank #24,534, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɑːsk].

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 42938, this pair ranks #1,433,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tanks vs task

Shared letters: akst. Private to "Tanks": n. Private to "task": -.

"Tanks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "task" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tanksatnks · takns · tankks · tankss · tannks · tansk · tnaks · ttanks
  • taskatsk · taks · taskk · tassk · tsak · ttask

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tanks" and "task" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([taŋks] versus [tɑːsk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Tanks" or "task" show up more?
"Tanks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,404 in our German list, against #24,534 for "task". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "task" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,433,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tanks" and "task" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "task vs taut". 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 #1,433,652 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