tannvstineTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#44,964
“tann” frequency rank
#49,303
“tine” frequency rank
94267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tann tine
Definition der, die, das; dieser, diese, dieses Feuer

Letter map: tann vs tine

Shared letters muted; letters that set tann and tine apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. tann (CVCC) and tine (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
tann
4 ch
tine

Role in the sentence - tann and tine

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tann is apronoun and tineanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 94267, 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]. tine is at rank #49,303, tagged as anoun, 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 94267, this pair ranks #17,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tann vs tine

Shared letters: nt. Private to "tann": a. Private to "tine": ei.

"tann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "tine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tann ← atnn · tnan · ttann
  • tine ← itne · tien · tinne · tnie · ttine

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tann" for "tine" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tann" is a pronoun and "tine" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tann" or "tine"?
"tann" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,964 in our German list, against #49,303 for "tine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "tann" vs "tine" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tann" and "tine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles 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 #17,709 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