tapevstapferWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#19,052
“tape” frequency rank
#13,958
“tapfer” frequency rank
33010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tape tapfer
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tapen ohne Angst, Furcht (beziehungsweise Angst/Furcht beherrschend) und bereit, anhaltend gegen Gefahren und Schwierigkeiten zu kämpfen

Where the eye mixes tape and tapfer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tape
6 ch
tapfer

Look-alike desk: tape vs tapfer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tape is [ˈtɛɪ̯pə] while tapfer is [ˈtap͡fɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tape is recorded at frequency rank #19,052, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtɛɪ̯pə]. 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 33010, this pair ranks #1,695,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tape vs tapfer

Shared letters: aept. Private to "tape": -. Private to "tapfer": fr.

"tape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tapfer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tapeatpe · taep · tappe · tpae · ttape
  • tapferatpfer · tafper · tapefr · tapferr · tapffer · tapfre · tappfer · tpafer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tape" and "tapfer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tape" is a verb and "tapfer" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tape" vs "tapfer" - which ranks higher?
"tapfer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,958 in our German list, against #19,052 for "tape". 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 "tape" 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 #1,695,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tape" and "tapfer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tape vs tine". 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 #1,695,222 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