TaschenvsTuscheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Taschen” and “Tusche” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,771
“Taschen” frequency rank
#47,058
“Tusche” frequency rank
52829
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Taschen Tusche
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tasche dunkle, mit Bindemitteln versetzte Tinte mit unlöslichem Farbmittel

Where the eye mixes Taschen and Tusche

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

7 ch
Taschen
6 ch
Tusche

Why the eye confuses Taschen with Tusche

A purely visual mix-up. Taschen ([ˈtaʃn̩]) and Tusche ([ˈtʊʃə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Taschen is recorded at frequency rank #5,771, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaʃn̩]. Tusche is at rank #47,058, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtʊʃə].

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 52829, this pair ranks #1,081,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Taschen vs Tusche

Shared letters: cehst. Private to "Taschen": an. Private to "Tusche": u.

"Taschen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Tusche" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Taschen ← atschen · tacshen · tascchen · tascehn · taschenn · taschhen · taschne · tashcen
  • Tusche ← tsuche · ttusche · tucshe · tuscche · tusceh · tuschhe · tushce · tussche

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Taschen" for "Tusche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaʃn̩] versus [ˈtʊʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Taschen" or "Tusche"?
"Taschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,771 in our German list, against #47,058 for "Tusche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Taschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tusche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,081,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Taschen" and "Tusche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Türchen vs Tusche". 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 #1,081,708 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