tannvstenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tann is a pronoun, ten is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tann” is a pronoun and “ten” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,964
“tann” frequency rank
#6,729
“ten” frequency rank
51693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tann ten
Definition der, die, das; dieser, diese, dieses zehn

Where the eye mixes tann and ten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tann
3 ch
ten

Visual trap between tann and ten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tann is [tanː] while ten is [tɛn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tann is recorded at frequency rank #44,964, classified as apron, pronounced [tanː]. ten is at rank #6,729, tagged as anum, pronounced [tɛn].

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 51693, this pair ranks #1,125,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tann vs ten

Shared letters: nt. Private to "tann": a. Private to "ten": e.

"tann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "ten" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tannatnn · tnan · ttann

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tann" and "ten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tann" is a pronoun and "ten" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tann" or "ten"?
"ten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,729 in our German list, against #44,964 for "tann". 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 "tann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,125,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tann" and "ten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tann 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 #1,125,690 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