TantenvstötenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#31,816
“Tanten” frequency rank
#3,083
“töten” frequency rank
34899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tanten töten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tante einem Menschen oder einem Tier gewaltsam das Leben nehmen

Where the eye mixes Tanten and töten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Tanten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against töten's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Tanten
5 ch
töten

Visual trap between Tanten and töten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tanten is [ˈtantn̩] while töten is [ˈtøːtn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tanten is recorded at frequency rank #31,816, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtantn̩]. töten is at rank #3,083, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtøːtn̩].

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 34899, this pair ranks #1,652,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tanten vs töten

Shared letters: ent. Private to "Tanten": a. Private to "töten": ö.

"Tanten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "töten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tanten ← atnten · tanetn · tannten · tantenn · tantne · tantten · tatnen · tnaten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tanten" and "töten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tanten" is a noun and "töten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Tanten" vs "töten" - which ranks higher?
"töten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,083 in our German list, against #31,816 for "Tanten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "töten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,652,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tanten" and "töten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tann vs Tanten". 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 #1,652,728 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