TanzvstautWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,488
“Tanz” frequency rank
#49,293
“taut” frequency rank
52781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tanz taut
Definition (rhythmischer) Bewegungsablauf, der zu Musik oder rhythmischen Geräuschen ausgeführt wird 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tauen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Tanz and taut apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Tanz
4 ch
taut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tanz is [tant͡s] while taut is [taʊ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tanz is recorded at frequency rank #3,488, classified as anoun, pronounced [tant͡s]. taut is at rank #49,293, tagged as averb, pronounced [taʊ̯t].

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 52781, this pair ranks #1,083,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tanz vs taut

Shared letters: at. Private to "Tanz": nz. Private to "taut": u.

"Tanz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "taut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tanzatnz · tannz · tanzz · tazn · tnaz · ttanz
  • tautatut · tatu · tautt · ttaut · tuat

Frequency comparison

Tanz#3,488
taut#49,293

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Tanz" and "taut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tanz" is a noun and "taut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Tanz" or "taut"?
"Tanz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,488 in our German list, against #49,293 for "taut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Tanz vs taut

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Tanz”; for a verb, it's “taut”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Tanz” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list