tanzevsTanzesConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#24,948
“tanze” frequency rank
#41,495
“Tanzes” frequency rank
66443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tanze Tanzes
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tanzen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tanz

Where the eye mixes tanze and Tanzes

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

5 ch
tanze
6 ch
Tanzes

Why the eye confuses tanze with Tanzes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tanze is [ˈtant͡sə] while Tanzes is [ˈtant͡səs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tanze” sits inside “Tanzes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tanze is recorded at frequency rank #24,948, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtant͡sə]. Tanzes is at rank #41,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtant͡səs].

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 66443, this pair ranks #573,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tanze vs Tanzes

Shared letters: aentz. Private to "tanze": -. Private to "Tanzes": s.

"tanze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Tanzes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tanze ← atnze · tanez · tannze · tanzze · tazne · tnaze · ttanze
  • Tanzes ← atnzes · tanezs · tannzes · tanzess · tanzse · tanzzes · taznes · tnazes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tanze" and "Tanzes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tanze" is a verb and "Tanzes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "tanze" or "Tanzes" show up more?
"tanze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,948 in our German list, against #41,495 for "Tanzes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tanze" and "Tanzes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tanze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanzes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #573,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tanze" and "Tanzes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tanzes vs tapes". 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 #573,082 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