Which to use
“tapes” is a verb and “tops” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,496
- “tapes” frequency rank
- #31,825
- “tops” frequency rank
- 73321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tapes | tops |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Präsens Konjunktiv des Verbs tapar | Plural des Substantivs top |
Letter map: tapes vs tops
Shared letters muted; letters that set tapes and tops apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - tapes and tops
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tapes is averb and topsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tapes is recorded at frequency rank #41,496, classified as averb, pronounced […]. tops is at rank #31,825, tagged as anoun, 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 73321, this pair ranks #363,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tapes vs tops
Shared letters: pst. Private to "tapes": ae. Private to "tops": o.
"tapes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tops" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tapes" for "tops" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tapes" or "tops"?
Useful next steps
Pair "tapes" vs "tops" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "tapes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tops" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tapes" and "tops" 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 #363,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.