Which to use
“tap” and “tapes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,056
- “tap” frequency rank
- #41,496
- “tapes” frequency rank
- 77552
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tap | tapes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tapen | 2. Person Singular Präsens Konjunktiv des Verbs tapar |
Letter map: tap vs tapes
Shared letters muted; letters that set tap and tapes apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. tap runs 3 letters (CVC) against tapes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: tap and tapes
tap and tapes are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tap” sits inside “tapes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tap is recorded at frequency rank #36,056, classified as averb, pronounced [tɛɪ̯p]. tapes is at rank #41,496, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 77552, this pair ranks #258,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tap vs tapes
Shared letters: apt. Private to "tap": -. Private to "tapes": es.
"tap" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tapes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tapes ← atpes · taeps · tapess · tappes · tapse · tpaes · ttapes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tap" and "tapes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tap" or "tapes"?
Useful next steps
Pair "tap" vs "tapes" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "tap" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tapes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tap" and "tapes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles 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 #258,197 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.