TänzervstapferTell them apart

Quick tell: Tänzer is a noun, tapfer is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Tänzer” is a noun and “tapfer” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,139
“Tänzer” frequency rank
#13,958
“tapfer” frequency rank
25097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tänzer tapfer
Definition (männliche^☆) Person, die (beruflich) tanzt ohne Angst, Furcht (beziehungsweise Angst/Furcht beherrschend) und bereit, anhaltend gegen Gefahren und Schwierigkeiten zu kämpfen

Where the eye mixes Tänzer and tapfer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Tänzer
6 ch
tapfer

Visual trap between Tänzer and tapfer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tänzer is [ˈtɛnt͡sɐ] while tapfer is [ˈtap͡fɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tänzer is recorded at frequency rank #11,139, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛnt͡sɐ]. tapfer is at rank #13,958, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtap͡fɐ].

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 25097, this pair ranks #1,838,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tänzer vs tapfer

Shared letters: ert. Private to "Tänzer": nzä. Private to "tapfer": afp.

"Tänzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tapfer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tapferatpfer · tafper · tapefr · tapferr · tapffer · tapfre · tappfer · tpafer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tänzer" and "tapfer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tänzer" is a noun and "tapfer" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Tänzer" vs "tapfer" - which ranks higher?
"Tänzer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,139 in our German list, against #13,958 for "tapfer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tänzer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tapfer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,838,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tänzer" and "tapfer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tapes vs tapfer". 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 #1,838,207 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