TanzesvstanztenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#41,495
“Tanzes” frequency rank
#27,513
“tanzten” frequency rank
69008
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Tanzes and tanzten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Tanzes runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against tanzten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Tanzes
7 ch
tanzten

Visual trap between Tanzes and tanzten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tanzes is [ˈtant͡səs] while tanzten is [ˈtant͡stn̩]. 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 69008, 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]. tanzten is at rank #27,513, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtant͡stn̩].

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 69008, this pair ranks #489,949 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Tanzes vs tanzten

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

"Tanzes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tanzten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tanzes ← atnzes · tanezs · tannzes · tanzess · tanzse · tanzzes · taznes · tnazes
  • tanzten ← atnzten · tannzten · tantzen · tanzetn · tanztenn · tanztne · tanztten · tanzzten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tanzes" for "tanzten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tanzes" is a noun and "tanzten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Tanzes" vs "tanzten" - which ranks higher?
"tanzten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,513 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tanzes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tanzten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #489,949 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tanzes" and "tanzten" 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 #489,949 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