TanzesvstanzteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#41,495
“Tanzes” frequency rank
#23,729
“tanzte” frequency rank
65224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tanzes tanzte
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tanz 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs tanzen

Where the eye mixes Tanzes and tanzte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Tanzes (CVCCVC) and tanzte (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Tanzes
6 ch
tanzte

Look-alike desk: Tanzes vs tanzte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tanzes is [ˈtant͡səs] while tanzte is [ˈtant͡stə]. 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 65224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tanzes is recorded at frequency rank #41,495, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtant͡səs]. tanzte is at rank #23,729, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtant͡stə].

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 65224, this pair ranks #614,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tanzes vs tanzte

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

"Tanzes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tanzte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tanzes ← atnzes · tanezs · tannzes · tanzess · tanzse · tanzzes · taznes · tnazes
  • tanzte ← atnzte · tannzte · tantze · tanzet · tanztte · tanzzte · taznte · tnazte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tanzes" for "tanzte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tanzes" is a noun and "tanzte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Tanzes" or "tanzte" show up more?
"tanzte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,729 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanzes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tanzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #614,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tanzes" and "tanzte" 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 #614,278 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